a Russian soldier, who left his unit in Ukraine, tells the daily life of the troops

It is a rare testimony: that of a soldier of the Russian army. Pavel Filatiev is not a deserter. He enlisted in Ukraine and was wounded in action. He was then entitled to break his contract but the pressure to continue to fight pushed him to leave Russia. Before leaving, he wanted to leave a trace: a memoir, titled ZOV – , “call” in Russian, and reference to the letters painted on Russian military vehicles – , from his experience in the army, published on Russian social networks.

>> The incomprehension of the Russian-speaking inhabitants of Mykolaiv under the bombs: “We are massacred by the Russians, why?”

Paratrooper in the 56th Guards Regiment and based in Crimea, Pavel Filatiev describes an already difficult life in barracks before the war: no rooms, no training, a filthy ordinary, even the individual armament – ​​his Kalashnikov – is rusty. When the unit left for Ukraine on February 24, the paratroopers of the 56th lacked everything… including uniforms. To the point of having to go and use the opponent. “We did not have no spare uniformse, explains Pavel Filatiev. We had to equip ourselves with Ukrainian army fatigues!”

“A third of the guys in my unit wore Ukrainian uniforms. They’re much better quality.”

Pavel Filatiev, Russian soldier

at franceinfo

His regiment took part in the capture of Kherson, practically without a fight. In Mikolaiv, Pavel finds himself trapped under Ukrainian bombardment for a month. He describes the shortcomings of his hierarchy, in particular officers clearly incapable of mounting an operation or coordinating support. “I don’t think you can talk about any lesser efficiency and it’s obvious to everyone, continues the Russian paratrooper. In general, our tactics are those of the Second World War, those of the Soviet Union. Our rules of combat have not changed, they are totally out of date.”

Wounded in the face – he nearly lost his right eye – Pavel left the battlefield in early May. Already, at that time, his regiment was only a shadow of itself. The 56th paratrooper, however, was 500 strong at the start of the invasion. “By the time I left the unit, we had around 30 dead and around 100 wounded. By now, the situation must have gotten worsehe imagines. Many resign or refuse to fight. To replace them, we called on volunteers, often 50-year-old men with no military experience. We promised them a lot of money. They believed in it, were drafted into the paratroopers and sent to the front.”

A refugee in France, Pavel tries to have his war memoir published. He promises to donate the rights to Ukrainian civil associations. A way for the Russian soldier to make a gesture of reconciliation towards Ukraine. To do, he said, “something good”.