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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Pjotr Sauer

‘They were furious’: the Russian soldiers refusing to fight in Ukraine

Russian soldiers in a ruined room of Mariupol drama theatre.
Many Russian soldiers would rather be dismissed or transferred than fight in Ukraine. Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images

When the soldiers of an elite Russian army brigade were told in early April to prepare for a second deployment to Ukraine, fear broke out among the ranks.

The unit, stationed in Russia’s far east during peacetime, first entered Ukraine from Belarus when the war started at the end of February and saw bitter combat with Ukrainian forces.

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