Vladimir Putin accused of 'deceiving' his own soldiers: 'The command doesn't care about us'

A video has surfaced wherea group of Russian soldiers who have retreated from their positions in Ukraine have accused Vladimir Putin's regime of lying to them.

Lies about the mobilization

On Wednesday a video circulated online which shows a group of Russian soldiers who have been accused of deserting their positions by their commander, Newsweek reports.

The soldiers, who are all part of the recently mobilized volunteers, address Putin directly in the video and say that in fact, they received direct orders to retreat from their position given that they were being shelled by heavy artillery fire. They said:

The company commander gave us an order to retreat from positions as we were shelled by tanks, artillery. In turn, the command didn't give us cover and gave us no support. We only had assault rifles, and all other weaponry was damaged.

They added:

Now, they want to declare us deserters since the company commander says he didn't give us an order. The command doesn't care about us.

The soldiers also claim that they were lied to back home when they were enlisted.

When Putin announced the mobilization campaign of 300,000 reservists, he had said that these men would not be sent to the frontlines in Ukraine but were to reinforce the third or fourth lines of defense.

Nevertheless, the soldiers seen in the video, who were recruited in the Yaroslavl oblast enlistment office in Russia, are proof that the contrary took place.

The soldiers say they were supposed to be part of Russia’s 'territorial defense', but were instead taken to hotspots in Ukraine where heavy fighting has been taking place:

But we were deceived, upon coming here, we went into assaults and stayed in the very front line. There was no third or fourth line as said by the president.

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Worried mothers and wives

Apparently, the footage was shared with the wives and mothers of the men seen in the video and then was obtained by the Yaroslavl publication Pro Gorod.

According to The Moscow Times, the regional authorities in central Russia's Yaroslavl region have informed the Russian military prosecutor’s office of this incident:

An investigation is being conducted.

The group of mothers and wives not only raised concerns about the fact that their husbands and sons were sent to the frontlines but also that they are under-equipped and must spend their entire salary on basic soldier necessities, Newsweek reports:

The women also claimed that the entirety of the soldiers' salaries was going toward clothing and equipment, including socks, thermal imagers, walkie-talkies and antennas.

Early this month, The Kyiv Independent alleged that Russia has been shooting their own soldierswho were planning to surrender to Ukraine. The report remains unconfirmed by any major Western media outlets.

​Sources used:

-Newsweek: ‘Russian Soldiers Who Fled Front Lines Call Out Putin for Lying About War’

-TheMoscowTimes: ‘Russian Troops Claim Commander Threatened ‘Desertion’ Case After Retreat’