Before the war started, the Russian army was already in a tight spot, as a serviceman fighting in Ukraine revealed. The topic is discussed at length by the Russian independent media, which also writes about “Putin’s chef”, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is also in charge of the Wagner mercenary outfit, recruiting criminals, including murders, from Russian prisons. Another issue discussed by the Russian independent media is that of Western combat equipment used by the Russian army, considering the Russian military industry lacks the necessary technology.
MEDUZA: “We had no moral right attacking another country”. A Russian serviceman who took part in the invasion of Ukraine wrote a book about the early days of the war.
On the morning of February 24, 2022, Russia attacked Ukraine. Among those who participated in this invasion was also Pavel Filiatev, a 33-year-old paratrooper who fought for two months on the frontline, after which point he left the army, invoking personal health issues. He wrote a book titled “ZOV” [The Calling], where he describes the state of Russian army prior to the war and what happened in the first days of the invasion. Meduza published a few excerpts from the book.
About the Russian army on the eve of war
After roaming the country for a good while and doing odd jobs here and there, in August last year I decided to resume my military service. I got orders to join a unit in Crimea. 10 days later I received my uniform, but just the summer outfit. They had no boots my size, which is why I had to purchase a pair of my own.
In mid-October they started handing out winter outfits, which were worn out and didn’t fit. I refused to put on a worn uniform that wasn’t my size, which ruined my relationship with my commanding officer. We had an argument, then I went out to buy a military jacket.
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About the “exercises” before the war
In mid-February, our company was stationed at the training grounds in Stary Krym. I had a feeling something was brewing – they had brought back in everyone who had been on sick leave or who had left the army.
During the following days, we finally went to the shooting range, where I got my machine gun for the first time. Mine was rusty with a broken strap. It jammed the first time I fired it.
The order to move out came on February 20. We were supposed to quickly mobilize towards an undisclosed location. We were already dirty and exhausted. Some had been at the shooting range for over a month, living without basic necessities. Everyone was on edge, tension was running high and no one knew anything.
On February 23, the division commander came to congratulate us [February 23 marks the Soviet Army day, currently Defender’s Day in Russia] and told us we would get daily wages of 69 dollars starting tomorrow. This was a clear signal something serious was about to go down.
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The attack on Kherson
All our training was just on paper, and the equipment was dated. Even the combat tactics is to this day the same our grandparents used! Those who fought in the first line are already dead. The boys are telling me all that’s left of our unit are some 50 men.
When it got dark, we were ordered to dig trenches. We were very cold. No one had sleeping bags, and the biting cold started freezing our bones. We didn’t even need to fight the enemy, the command had made us live worse than homeless people.
The next day we reached the Kherson maritime port. We scavenged the buildings for food, water, a hot shower and a place to sleep. Some took computers and whatever valuables they could get their hands on. I was no exception: I found a hat in a broken truck, so I took it.
The offices had a kitchen with fridges. We dug in like savages and ate whatever we could find. We turned the whole place upside down by the end of the night.
Returning to the frontline
In mid-April, I got dirt in my eyes due to the artillery fire, and then keratits set in. After five days of excruciating pain, when my eye had almost completely shut, I was finally evacuated. The orderly asked me to tell the medical unit back home they were out of syringes and painkillers.
We were transported to a barracks where they had put up servicemen discharged from hospitals. There were approximately a hundred people there, withdrawn from the frontline, who were in severe shock after witnessing horrors. Someone had a strong stutter, another couple of guys had memory loss, and many of them drunk themselves into a stupor, spending whatever wages they earned.
We paid for the treatment and medicine from our own pockets. For two months I tried to get treatment from the army. I went to the prosecutor’s office, to the command, to the head of hospital. I even wrote the president.
I decided to appear before the military medical commission and leave the army, invoking health issues. The commanding officers said I was trying to evade military service and sent word to the prosecutor’s office to start criminal proceedings against me. It’s how they threaten people to convince them to go back.
The mood in the ranks
We had no moral right attacking another country, all the more so a people so close to us. When everything started, I knew very few people who believed Ukrainians were Nazis, and even less who were willing to fight Ukraine. We had no hatred for them, we didn’t consider Ukrainians to be our enemies.
Most servicemen are unhappy with what’s happening in the army. They are disgruntled with the leadership, with Putin and his policies, with the Defense Minister who didn’t serve in the army.
We are all being held hostage here due to a number of reasons, and I believe things have gone too far. We have unleashed a terrible war. A war that is destroying cities and killing children, women and elderly.
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THE INSIDER: “Right from the start, Prigozhin told us that 80% of us won’t be returning. How PMC Wagner is recruiting inmates for the war in Ukraine.
The owner of the private military company Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is himself recruiting inmates from Russian prisons, promising they would go free after serving six months on the frontlines in Ukraine, inmates have told The Insider. According to Russian inmates, Prigozhin doesn’t conceal the fact that Vladimir Putin himself has sanctioned the recruitment of inmates for the war (whether this is true or not, the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service provides “Putin’s chef” with all the assistance he needs, allowing him to talk to inmates in penitentiaries). Brandishing the Hero of Russia star on his T-shirt, Prigozhin (who was locked up for armed robbery and involvement of minors in criminal activities) tells inmates he “represents an organized crime group helping the Russian army”, promising convicts 100 up to 230 thousand rubles per month, favoring those convicted for murder.
“500 signed up, but only 100 were taken”
Gennady, an inmate at the Bryansk Oblast penitentiary (names have been changed by The Insider): “At the end of July, Prigozhin and his men came to our prison. They set up shop in six, seven offices, and two of them interviewed the inmates. At the time, we didn’t recognize him. […] After the interview, inmates signed a paper pledging not to disclose the process of their release and giving their consent to participate willingly in the military operation in Ukraine. We also wrote a petition to be pardoned.
They promised us we wound sign a contract, receiving 230 thousand rubles per month, based on which our sentences would be written off after taking part in the special operation for half a year. But right from the start, they told us that approximately 80% of us won’t be returning. They typed in the names and addresses of our relatives in the system, asking if we had a house or bank loans. I believe they will help our families, because it’s unlikely we will return. […]
Everything is set. Soon, they will take us to the airport, not far from the Ukrainian border. We will have two weeks of training, then we will cross the border onboard helicopters. Many from our prison will come. Nearly 500 signed up, 240 of whom were selected. Some were polygraph-tested. In the end, approximately 100 people will go to the frontline.
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But if those who send us there lie to us, then it will be dangerous for them. They know over a thousand and a half have been rounded up from prisons in Arkhangelsk, Bryansk, Yaroslavl, Ryazan, St. Petersburg. I can contact any prison. We talk to each other and to others and we can bring them to their knees if they do us wrong. Now, we’re waiting for them to call, we are supposed to leave any second now. It’s just one thing we’re afraid of, that they won’t take us with them”.
“The man with the Hero of Russia star on his T-shirt told us to our face that bandits are now in power and they don’t give a shit”
Ivan, a prison guard at a maximum-security facility in Tula Oblast: “On July 24, the head of the PMC Wagner, Prigozhin himself, came to visit. Under his order the entire colony was rounded up, and he told us about the war (this was the word he used), about the regular army growing weak, about troubles on the frontline, about redemption by blood.
He promised salaries and prizes in the hundreds of thousands of rubles for those who carry out missions. He spoke of a pardon from Putin at the end of six months of service. In case we got killed, our families would get 5 million rubles. He said his orders were marked “top secret”, taken from the president himself, who told him to use any and all resources available.
He said that, for the time being, he only needed volunteers – the bravest and most adventurous of us. He called his organizations an OCG (organized crime group) and described the benefits of taking part in the war for his organization. To be honest, I thought this was a dream, some kind of surrealism. A recipient of the Hero of Russia star, which was right there on his T-shirt, was talking to us openly of what was happening in our country. That bandits were now in power and that they didn’t give a shit about organizations such as “Gulagu.net” (an NGO specializing in inmates rights) or about “the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers”. He spoke about war casualties: 10-15% dead and 15-20% wounded. He said they don’t need cannon fodder, only people who are willing to fight.
Finally, his speech was convincing and unwavering. What is terrifying is that of 1,300 inmates, 300 went to sign up. What is even more terrifying is that, according to his companion, the next time they come they won’t be enlisting volunteers, but they will bring ready-made lists”.
“They gave top priority to people who were doing time for murder”
Sergey, an inmate at the Bryansk Oblast penitentiary: “We were all rounded up on the second floor, and we were invited inside one at a time. We were polygraph-tested and had one-on-ones. They asked us if we had any family in Ukraine. They asked us if we had committed murder. They gave priority to those who were handed sentences under Articles 105 and 111 (Murder and aggravated assault). Of the total of 400 people, they selected 150”.
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ISTORIES: How Russia manages to bypass sanctions on the import of weapons components
Russian weapons are made using Western components, which were imported via shady schemes and which continue to be delivered to Russia even after the start of the war, Istories writes.
The weapons used by the Russian army in its war against Ukraine rely heavily on Western technologies, and Russia has failed to come up with alternatives. Some important components were procured by illegal means, smuggled into Russia prior to the war, experts with the Royal Defense United Defense Research Institute (RUSI) write in their report titled “Western Electronics at the Heart of the Russian Military Machine”, at the end of a thorough analysis of components of Russian military equipment found in Ukraine.
Western components designed to kill
RUSI experts have analyzed components of 27 of the most advanced Russian military equipment, including cruise missiles, communication systems and electronic warfare systems, all used by the Russian army in the war in Ukraine. They examined weapons left behind by Russian servicemen on the battlefield or captured by the Ukrainian forces. Experts have identified at least 450 components, imported and produced in the USA, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Germany.
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Without these critical Western components, Russia wouldn’t have been capable of waging a war against Ukraine in 2014 or the war it is currently waging in this country, nor the 2015 war in Syria. Here is a concrete example: at first, Russian forces identify their targets using an “Orlan-10” drone, then the “Acveduc” radio communications system sends them the coordinates before finally ordering a missile strike using the “Tornado-S” system.
All these systems contain critical components produced abroad. “Orlan-10” drones are fitted with Sony gimbal cameras, US-made Hextronik electric engines, a navigation system using a microcontroller produced by the Swiss company STMicroeletronics, as well as an engine produced by the Japanese company Saito Seisakusho. The “Acveduc” communications system contains a dozen components produced by Western companies, such as the US-made Analog Devices microcontroller and a signal processor manufactured by the Texas Instruments American company. The 9M549 missile launched by “Tornado-S” systems contains key navigation components manufactured by the Altera Corporation and Cypress Semiconductor, both based in the United States.
Technologies used by the Russian army, targeted by sanctions
These examples are not unique, the authors of the report claim: other Russian weapons and technologies equally employ Western components without which they cannot function. We are talking about missiles and communications stations, as well as electronic warfare systems.
Most of the 450 foreign components identified by RUSI experts in Russian weapons were produced in the USA – over 70%. These are mostly common microelectronics that are also used to manufacture civilian products and that are freely available on the market.
In certain cases, however, these are goods banned for export to Russia, in particular if they are intended for military use. Whereas parts of them were produced ever since the early 1980s, others are brand new. For instance, the components of the Kalibr cruise missile were manufactured in 2018-2019, namely a few years after Western states imposed sanctions on Russia for the 2014 invasion of Ukraine.
In most of these cases, components found in Russian weapons were subject to strict export controls even before the start of the war in February 2022. These are components produced in the USA and elsewhere – the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. According to RUSI experts, the components could have been purchased illegally and smuggled into Russia, or fraudulently transferred to weapons manufacturers by original buyers prior to the invasion.
In 2012, the USA accused 11 people of having set up a smuggling network that was delivering microelectronics to Russia: “the top destinations included Russian state institutions, military and intelligence services”. The US Department of Justice claims that, using Arc Electronics as a front, they purchased products manufactured by Texas Instruments and Analog Devices and had them smuggled into Russia. Over 2002-2012, Arc Electronics supplied Russian military equipment manufacturers with products worth 50 million USD.
A month after Russia launched the invasion in Ukraine, the US Treasury Department blacklisted 30 people and businesses that were purchasing Western parts for the Russian arms industry. These American components have been identified by RUSI experts in weapons used by Russian forces in the war in Ukraine. Customs data confirm that the aforementioned companies did not export Western components into Russia directly, but via Hong-Kong third parties.
