"I also received orders, but I did not carry them out", Igor Shchetko tells DW. The former soldier in the Russian missile forces wonders why others do not follow his example - he deserted immediately after the war began.
"Under no circumstances would I go to war"
In 2021, Shchetko signed a two-year contract with the Russian army. He decided to leave it after finding the body of a soldier who had committed suicide.
The man was admitted to the psychiatric ward of a hospital, where he tried to be discharged from the army on medical grounds. Instead, however, he was ordered to be transferred to an assault brigade. "Under no circumstances would I go to war," he told DW. A few days later, he fled Russia to Armenia, and from there to the EU.
Human rights activist Sergei Krivenko says that about 60,000 Russian soldiers have deserted their companies. There are cases in which they are hiding or trying to get a doctor's confirmation that they are unfit for service.
According to Krivenko, who has been defending the rights of servicemen for years, more than 20,000 criminal cases have already been opened in Russia for absenteeism or desertion. Anyone who refuses to fight is subject to punishment. Igor Shchetko says that if he is extradited to Russia, he faces 15 years in prison or compulsory service at the front.
Favourable contracts, poverty and coercion are the main reasons
Since 2023, the Russian army has been recruiting soldiers through lucrative contracts, explains Sergey Krivenko. But it is not just about volunteers - among them are prisoners, migrants, debtors, conscripts. Many residents of poor regions are forced to go to the front due to financial problems and lack of alternatives. At the same time, the state is strengthening paramilitary training in schools through “patriotic” programs.
Anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova studies statements from soldiers, deserters and their families. She concludes that a climate of violence prevails - most use vocabulary that suggests control, punishment and survival.
“Birdhouses” are, for example, the names of drone pilots who monitor other soldiers and can shoot at those who try to escape. “The pit” is a makeshift place for detention and punishment, and “quarantine” is the place for interrogation when soldiers return from the front. It is becoming increasingly difficult for soldiers to return to normal life, she says. “The way out” is often severe trauma, captivity, desertion or death.
Arhipova says that a black market has developed at the front - soldiers pay thousands of dollars for leave to be transferred from the front or to avoid participating in assault groups. Medical notes are bought and commanders are bribed for permission to leave temporarily.
Main source of income for many families
The war has changed Russian society. For many families, it has become the main source of income, says journalist Alexei Tupitsin. Together with colleagues, he created chat rooms for soldiers' wives at the beginning of the war. And he has watched how, from a source of anger and anxiety, it has become a means of ensuring the family budget. “The wives of mobilized men today belong to the middle class”, says the journalist. It is easier for them to get credit, to buy a car or expensive furniture. The children of soldiers also receive more care in some schools.
And although the state tries to glorify veterans, people often keep their distance from them, especially those who are convicted criminals. One of them, who was convicted of double murder, returns from the front after serving in the Wagner paramilitary group. The man's file has been expunged and he is trying to apply for a job as a teacher. "The principal called me in horror and said she was scared just by the way he looked," Tupitsyn recalls. The school wouldn't hire him, despite his medals and a certificate that he was a veteran.
Igor Shchetko is glad he never spent a day at the front. "I don't have a drop of Ukrainian blood on my hands - neither civilian nor military," he says. The man remembers feeling safe in France for the first time. "I don't regret anything, I stayed true to myself," he says.
Author: Ksenia Polska