Russian soldiers drafted to fight in Ukraine as part of president Vladimir Putin’s partial mobilization decree are being shot at if they attempt to abandon their positions on the front line, a report said.
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The claims were made by wives of the Russian soldiers who reportedly threatened to go to the front line in Ukraine to bring their husbands back home, Newsweek reported.
The outlet reported citing a video published on the Telegram channel of media outlet Verstka that showed one woman telling military officials to return their husbands or they’ll “tear them apart.”
The women was reportedly at a military unit in the town of Valuyki in Belgorod region, near the border with Ukraine. In the video the women said that their husbands had come under attack in Makiivka, a city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region adding that many men were wounded and demanded their husbands be returned home to Russia.
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Latvia-based Russian-language news outlet Meduza also reported that the men have since been returned to their military unit in Russia, Newsweek report claimed.
Earlier, UK’s defence ministry had said that the Russian army is likely threatening to shoot deserters who are unwilling to fight “due to low morale.”
Russian forces have likely started deploying “barrier troops” or “blocking units” to deal with their own retreating soldiers, UK defence ministry had said.
