- Wives of these reservists mobilized by Putin have carried out these practices.
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| Russian recruits attend training at a shooting range near Donetsk, Ukraine. |
Russian recruits "play dead" on the battlefield due to their lack of training and few weapons
Some Russian conscripts are resorting to the trick of playing dead on the battlefield to avoid fighting in Ukraine due to a lack of training and limited equipment, according to Britain's Daily Mail newspaper.
The wife of one of the 300,000 reservists mobilized by Vladimir Putin, whose husband was sent to fight in the 423rd Moscow Motorized Rifle Regiment, has recounted these practices in the independent Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta Europe.
"For many hours they just lay on the ground and pretended to be dead for one simple reason: they had no weapons anymore but machine guns. There were mortars against them, drones were flying over them, if they moved a finger, then a drone would immediately fly up and the destroyed," says the woman, named Ekaterina, who assures that her 27-year-old husband received training in digging trenches before being sent to the front.
Another wife of a recruit quoted by the Daily Mail, Irina, recounts that her husband, just 24 years old, endured a 12-hour bombardment until the commander ordered the withdrawal, but that the military commanders later forced them to return to the front.
"After they refused to return, they were offered new equipment, bulletproof vests, and helmets, or court-martialed," says Irina.
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