1/ Men mobilised by the Russian Army were reportedly sold to a mercenary group for 25,000 rubles each ($310) and told they would be shot unless they fought in the Battle of Bahkmut. Hundreds are said to have become casualties. Now their relatives cannot contact the survivors. ⬇️ 2/ According to the relatives, 501 mobilised men
newsletter via Feeds on Inoreader 2023-06-04
Summary:
1/ Men mobilised by the Russian Army were reportedly sold to a mercenary group for 25,000 rubles each ($310) and told they would be shot unless they fought in the Battle of Bahkmut. Hundreds are said to have become casualties. Now their relatives cannot contact the survivors. ⬇️
2/ According to the relatives, 501 mobilised men were taken from Crimea to a training range in the 'Luhansk People's Republic', where they were trained by Wagner Group mercenaries. They were then taken to the Veterans PMC's base in the 'Donetsk People's Republic' (DPR) in April.
3/ Relatives of the mobiks say that their men were "driven around in circles for 11 hours, then they were given water and passed out. Maybe there was even something in this water. And in the morning they woke up to shouts of "Wake up!" from unknown people with "Veterans" badges."
4/ Then they saw that there was a sign in this place: "ODSSBr [Separate Air Assault Brigade] "Veterans"." The men say that Veterans members "took away our phones, all our documents, they started threatening us. They told us to sign contracts, nobody wanted to sign."
5/ "There were threats that "we will throw you in the hottest spot, nobody will find you there", and that if you take one step to the right, or one step to the left, you will be shot in the knees."
6/ The relatives say that "it was made clear that they were bought by the "Veterans", they had the right to do what they wanted with them. Every head was paid for, they were bought like sheep."
7/ The Veterans PMC is an offshoot of Redut, a larger mercenary group owned by the Russian oligarch Gennady Timchenko. It has been active in Ukraine since the start of the war. The core of the Veterans consists of Russian military veterans who have been hired as mercenaries.
8/ On arriving in the DPR, the mobiks' Russian army cards were taken away and they were assigned to different units. They were sent by the Veterans PMC to the Bahkmut area in late April 2023. Their relatives say the men were put on the front line and used as assault brigades.