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Russian opponents of Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine May 12 released “Putin. War,” a report documenting the death of at least 220 Russian soldiers fighting as part of separatist forces in eastern Ukraine. Politician Boris Nemtsov had been working on the report before being assassinated in February. While Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly denied that Russian troops are fighting in Ukraine, saying any Russian combatant there is a “volunteer,” the report says Moscow has 8,000 to 10,000 troops in Ukraine and has spent more than $1 billion for military hardware there.
Nemtsov’s report includes interviews concerning 17 paratroopers from the city of Ivanovo who were killed in the battle for the Ukrainian town of Debaltseve. The soldiers were compelled to resign, the report states, but were assured they would remain eligible for death or disability benefits. Reuters reported interviews with several Russian soldiers who had recently quit. “After we crossed the border, a lieutenant colonel said we could be sent to jail if we didn’t fulfil orders,” said a member of an elite tank division sent to Ukraine last year. “Some soldiers refused to stay.” Above, Dorji Batomunkuev, a Russian soldier from Ulan-Ude near the Mongolian border, whose tank unit was deployed in Ukraine. At right, Batomunkuev in hospital burn unit after he was injured near Debaltseve in February. |
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| —NAOMI CRAINE |