A Russian soldier who had reportedly been hiding for about six months in abandoned buildings after the liberation of the Kharkiv region has been arrested by Ukrainian police.
The soldier, a 42-year-old serviceman from the 27th Russian Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, was taken into custody on Monday as regional police officers patrolled villages in the Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi area.
“After he was searched, it turned out that the man, who is from the Moscow region, was a serviceman of the 27th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade of the Russian Federation’’, the police said in a statement. “The detainee claimed he had been hiding since the liberation of the Kupiansk district by Ukraine’s armed forces.”
The man, dressed in civilian clothes, was apparently separated from his unit as they fled the Ukrainian counteroffensive last September. It is still unclear how he had managed to hide for the six months since the Russian retreat.
Ukrainian police have not released further details at the moment and the Guardian cannot independently verify the claims.
Ukraine’s surprise counterattack in the Kharkiv region last September came as Russian forces also faced attacks in the south.
In the space of a few days, Ukraine pushed the Russians out from more than 6,000 sq km of territory and consolidated its control of the Kharkiv region, raising flags on towns and villages which had been occupied by Russian troops for six months, and reclaiming areas seized by Moscow on the first day of Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
Thousands of Russian soldiers were caught by surprise with Ukrainian forces rooting them out of hiding in cellars and nearby forests.
Soon after the liberation, Ukrainian authorities had conducted a massive door-to-door search operation for Russian servicemen who had been left behind or who had remained to act as saboteurs.
On Monday, the head of Kherson Regional Military Administration, Oleksandr Prokudin said: “Authorities were tipped off as to the presence of a Russian diversionary-infiltration group in the area and introduced a stricter curfew in the city which will now last from 5pm to 6.30am, in order to prevent casualties among the civilians while soldiers and police are on the hunt for Russian infiltrators.
“Please treat the situation with understanding,’’ added Prokudin. “Remain calm and assist the defence forces in eliminating Russian forces.’’
