The Insider: Russian soldiers who refused to fight are kept in basements in the LNR

In the Russian-occupied Luhansk oblast, Russian contract soldiers who refused to fight against Ukraine are being held in cellars.

The Russian publication The Insider writes about this with reference to the father of one of the soldiers.

The refuseniks have been held in the city of Bryanka for over a month. According to journalists, after three months of service, contract workers were promised vacation and the opportunity to refuse to participate in the war, but when they wrote to refuse, they were detained and taken to Bryanka. According to relatives, they are kept there in terrible conditions, periodically forced to return to the front.

Relatives also talk about the torture and beatings of the soldiers, of whom there are at least several hundred in the basements.

The military command refuses to let the contractors go home, fearing that the rest will follow suit. The father of one of the soldiers said that at the same time the command of the Russian Federation declared that it was not involved in the detention. Relatives are told that the contract workers are being held by the "Luhansk military".

• On July 21, the publication "Verstka" reported that a center is being formed in Luhansk oblast, where Russian servicemen who refused to fight in Ukraine will be taken. There are at least 234 people from various military units. Many are kept in basements and garages. Judging by the stories of servicemen and their relatives, the functions of bodyguards are performed by employees of a private military organization. Relatives of the military believe that it is about "Vagner PMC".