“Vyorstka” reports about pressure on military refuseniks from Dagestan

Natives of Dagestan, who refused to participate in the special military operation and returned to their homeland, are being sent to a guardhouse and threatened with a tribunal, the “Vyorstka” (Layout) publication reports today in the article “We understood that we were treated as cannon fodder and that we have nothing to do on a foreign land”.

The article tells a story of a 26-year-old native of a Dagestan village, who in the autumn of 2021 signed a contract for a military service in a military unit located in one of the cities of Dagestan. The man named Zaur in the article (an author of the article noted that the man’s name was changed in the article) got a job as a driver-mechanic in a reconnaissance platoon. In late February, Zaur and several dozen other militaries were sent to the vicinities of Mariupol.

According to Zaur, after several days, he and several of his colleagues decided to leave the war zone. After his return to Dagestan, Zaur, together with his colleagues, wrote a letter of resignation from the military service, but the commanders of the unit suspected four militaries of desertion. They were taken into custody in a guardhouse and kept there for several days.

“About three or four days later we were released, after which we were dismissed without the possibility to be reinstated,” the native of Dagestan said.

The law allows the dismissal of refuseniks from the armed forces without the right to reinstatement, but they can only be sent to a guardhouse by a court’s decision, advocate Maxim Grebenyuk told the “Vyorstka” publication. According to the advocate, the dismissal for non-fulfilment of the terms of the contract deprives the militaries of any compensation.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 12, 2022 at 03:22 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.