Donetsk Militias Refuse Second Deployment, Say Will Not Be “Cannon Fodder”

Ukrainian combat refusals continue to happen showing the stress that army is under and the unenviable position its soldiers are often placed in, and I am going to cover them, but meanwhile something predictable has happened — the first deployment refusal on the other side, by the soldiers of the Donetsk Republic.

There are two videos in the style of the Ukrainian refusal/protest/appeal videos from Donetsk fighters.

One appears to be a fully-fledged deployment refusal (mutiny), while the other is a mere appeal trying to draw attention to their plight.

200 DPR fighters from the 107th Regiment are refusing to deploy to the frontline in Lugansk. They say they were mobilized illegally without even a medical examination to determine if they were fit, and that they had already fought for 3 months in Mariupol. That they do not intend to become cannon fodder in Lugansk (where they suspect they would not even be recorded as having died as official soldiers of Donetsk).

They also say they have in their ranks a POW they liberated in Mariupol that was returned to service without even being given medical exam despite having shrapnel in his body:

Here’s a message from the 107th Infantry Regiment of the DPR basically telling the Russians they don’t want to go fight for the LPR pic.twitter.com/h4w9Dzsz3e

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) May 24, 2022

Meanwhile 3rd battalion 105th Regiment of DPR recorded an appeal also explaining they were placed into service without a medical, were not given training, and that promises made that they would serve in the rear were broken. They were placed on the frontline and sustained 40% losses so that only 60% of them remains (probably 10% killed and 30% wounded). They request to be pulled back from the Lugansk frontline into rear-area service in Donetsk:

A pretty damning video for DNR's pres Pushilin. I won't do a word-for-word, but here is the gist:
"To Pres. Denis Pushilin, fr personnel of 3rd rifle Bn 105th rifle Bde, MU 08818. We're mobilized [drafted] Feb 22 2020 to present. Contrary to your public statements that the…

— RES·MVNITA (@ResMvnita) May 25, 2022

…mobilized reservists will be sent not to the front line but to the liberated rear for law-enforcement etc. and for defending line 3, our personnel (w no training, no prior military experience, and no medical exams, many w acute chronic illness) from Mar 13 were on front lines

— RES·MVNITA (@ResMvnita) May 25, 2022

…in Mariupol. As of May 23, only 60% of personnel is still here. We successfully fulfilled our defensive and offensive missions in Mariupol. At present we're on foreign soil, in LDR. LDR has not mobilized her men. We're exhausted. There're many draft dodgers in DNR. We request:

— RES·MVNITA (@ResMvnita) May 25, 2022

1) Return to DNR.
2) Rotation of the personnel from front lines (lines 0 and 1) to the rear (line 3) as you had publicly stated.
3) Speedy discharge of front-line fighters, so they could contribute to rebuilding of DNR industry.
4) Leave of absences.
Written response requested

— RES·MVNITA (@ResMvnita) May 25, 2022

This is another cost of Putin waging a “special military operation”. Because trained Russian conscripts are made non-deployable a disproportionate burden falls on untrained Donetsk civilians.

It isn’t the case that Moscow is above using conscripts. It is using conscripts from Donetsk and Lugansk aplenty and throwing what are still basically civilians to the front line.

This goes some way toward dispeling the notion that the Russian-led side is suffering light losses only. This battalion claims to have sustained 40% losses in 3 months.

It also destroys any suggestion that the Russian side has enough men for the job if these third rate troops are being used for heavy frontline combat as they claim.

A pro-war Donetsk blogger defends the protesting troops (machine translated from Russian):

A Ukrainian-style video appeared on the Web, where soldiers of the DPR mobilization regiments refuse to perform combat missions. Some of them are false, some are real. Immediately there were screams about crypto-dills, not getting up like that, and other crap. With deathly silence of officials. ALL of our officialdom is silent, which raises the degree of heat, but there is no point in hiding – all this is already on the Web and quite widely. We need to understand and find out.

But start to find out and it will come out … no, not Donetsk identity, and not lazy khataskrayniks, the following will come out:

1. Light regiments with numbers above 100 were created for mobilization. These regiments are a kind of analogue of the Ukrainian Terrorist Defense – light infantry without artillery, armored vehicles and normal weapons.

2. The mobilization itself was carried out perfectly – without normal medical examinations, cohesion of units, training, and with the creation of units from scratch, which automatically means their low combat capability.

3. The previous one is not bad if these regiments were used correctly – covering cities, roadblocks, the outer ring of encirclement of cities blocked by the army. Actually, as they use the secondary parts. They began to be used as linear parts. Assaults on Avdeevka, Maryinka, Mariupol. Battles near Kharkov and Nikolaev. Everyone can guess the level of losses for himself.

4. No one rebelled, did not run, fought. But upon returning to the DPR, the fighters learned that refugees had already been taken to their jobs, and they again were to be thrown somewhere. Away from the DPR, where daily shelling and casualties among their loved ones and relatives. At the same time, work with personnel was not carried out. Just do. Is it in style who is against that dill. Well, trying to replenish. Roundups and trapping.

In the end, it blew up. Strange, right? People, many of whom did not hold weapons in their hands before, and whose preparation before the war was reduced to formalism, even without weapons and firing, and not all of them passed, they were thrown into the trash, they were not equipped, well, apart from what is in the picture , it sucks armed, thrown into two-month battles and then, they said that their work was busy, and they still had to fight. Probably they are khataskrayniks, or they don’t get up …

The situation itself is actually solvable – guarantees for work – a normal medical examination, normal payments and equipment not at the expense of wages and a month for training for those who remain in the ranks, then – into normal brigades, which should have been done initially with those who fought, but 100th regiments to checkpoints, to strengthen the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But this is not our method – we will be silent until it stops and morally put pressure. Well, if morally … And all this raises only one question for me – about adequate. Last night I asked people again, read the officialdom and bloggers, the first in shock, the second deaf-blind and posting peremogi, the third are looking for problems in identity, national spirit and all that. Some here are the authorities of the Republics protect. They don’t command. Not them. They could organize the ammunition. Yell about what is happening, too, they. Do not overshadow them either. While Sladkov wrote about the very problem of mobs, there is no nichrome in style, but the heroes, and Skif – well done in style, they take care of the youth, first the old ones die.

Just think – these are fucking people, people who did not run, did not surrender and did not succumb to the enemy when they were sent into battle with their ass bare. And people demanding AFTER the battle to be listened to and their problems solved what are they wrong about? And why is the trial tightly hidden? War? So we have a SVO, they are citizens of the Russian Federation. And advice to all critics and other guards – put on a cheap figure, a helmet from a photo, take a pre-1914 type cider and SKS and imagine how you are fighting against an army with drones, snipers, anti-tank systems and oversaturated machine guns. They’ve been able to. And if you want people to fight, talk to them. Fine. And punish the organizers of this. And do not howl “but the Russians”, a contract soldier with normal ammunition, social guarantees and a salary, this is not yesterday’s teacher or driver.