“How do they make us sign contracts? They stick needles under our fingernails”: Wounded Russian soldiers forced back into the fight

RU

The names have been changed to protect identities.

Amputees, shrapnel wound patients sent to the front

Wall Street Journal sources estimate that Russia’s losses since the start of its full-scale invasion amount to 200,000 killed and 400,000 injured. A tally compiled by the BBC in cooperation with the independent Russian outlet Mediazona used open sources to document Russian losses exceeding 66,000 killed as of early July 2024, and the project estimates the actual number to be 120,000. The Russian Ministry of Defense does not disclose data on losses.

Faced with acute personnel shortages, Russian commanders not only coerce mobilized personnel into signing contracts that cannot be terminated until the end of the war, but also put the wounded back into service regardless of their injuries and degree of recovery. Most servicemen are sent back to the front line as soon as they are released from the hospital — this includes patients with shrapnel in their limbs, post-concussion syndrome, and even without fingers on one of their hands.

Gregory Sverdlin, founder of the Tbilisi-based antiwar charity Get Lost, notes an increase in the number of such cases since February 2023:

“When the wave of mobilization ended, we started getting more requests from wounded soldiers. We attribute this trend to the shortage of voluntary contract servicemen and those who end up drafted or coerced into signing a contract at military enlistment offices after being summoned to ‘verify their personal data.’ We are processing a lot of such requests.”

According to Sverdlin, in most cases, the medical board deliberately overestimates the soldier's fitness category. Some soldiers are even denied medical examination despite their diagnoses: “There are cases of HIV-positive people or people without fingers — obvious grounds for discharge to the reserve — being assigned the A or B category of fitness for military service [“fit” or “fit with minor limitations”], at which point communication with doctors ends, and the person is returned to the unit.”

“At the front, there are soldiers with all sorts of health issues: asthma, epilepsy, hypertension, heart disorders, amputated hands, post-concussion syndrome, hearing impairment (burst eardrums), hepatitis C, and shrapnel in their heads,” says a contract soldier whose sister reached out to Get Lost to help him defect.

A mobilized soldier who is now recovering from an injury confirmed that account:

“My situation is like everyone else's: they are sending me back to war on crutches. I'm recovering from surgery right now. I'm an outpatient, diagnosed with an injury of the posterior ligament of the knee joint. My traumatologists said the recovery would take six months, but the military medical board gave me only two. They're sending me back now. When I asked what I was supposed to do there on crutches, my commanders just shrugged.”

Konstantin Mikhaylov of the 155th Independent Marine Brigade told The Insider that their command has mandatory personnel targets:

“The Marine Corps has targets for sending personnel to the SVO, so our brigade commander sent everyone he could — even a guy without a leg. Luckily for him, when they got to their destination, a normal doctor examined them and sent back whoever he could. But the personnel target has been reached. So what if the soldiers are severely injured?”

Not only the wounded but also HIV, Hepatitis C, and tuberculosis patients — and even those suspected of suffering from cancer — are being sent to the front.

Alina, the wife of a mobilized soldier who was returned to the front despite a serious injury, says that along with her husband, a nearly blind contract serviceman with possible cancer was forced back into the fight:

“He was at the enlistment station with my husband. He’d participated in assaults that had left him blind in one eye due to the immense pressure. When he was on leave, his wife noticed strange symptoms. They applied for a medical board examination, but they never got the referral. So they went to a private clinic, where he was diagnosed with stomach cancer and minus seven eyesight. They brought his medical files to the commander of his unit, but the commander detained him for going AWOL, as his leave had ended before he completed his medical examination. From late 2023 to May 31, 2024, they must have kept him at the enlistment station before sending him to war, just like my husband.”

Crippled and sick military personnel are not only used as reinforcements — they also form separate “disabled” units, assault squads made up almost entirely of soldiers unfit for service and therefore disposable.

In August 2023, the Military Medical Directorate of Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed that more than 97% of wounded military personnel “recover” and return to active duty. In reality, however, combatants are often denied the time they need for adequate recovery and are forced back into service through violence and threats if they attempt to refuse to return to the front line.

“His arm is necrotic and needs urgent surgery, but they pushed him into a truck and took him to an assault”

Twenty-five-year-old Volgograd resident Alexei Ivanov was one of those who returned to the frontline against their will. When he refused to go back because of an injury, he was forced into a KAMAZ truck and taken to the territory of the so-called “Donetsk People's Republic.” Alina, Alexei's wife, says that he was mobilized in September 2022 and assigned to the Zaporizhzhia sector, where he was wounded in a mortar attack:

“He stayed in the SVO zone for about a month but didn't kill anyone, only dug trenches. When the shelling started, he got hit, suffering a severe shrapnel wound to his right forearm. He had an open fracture and was evacuated immediately. They sent him to Vishnevsky [hospital in Donetsk] for treatment, and then to Burdenko [neurosurgical hospital in Moscow]. After he spent some time there, he was put on medical leave, as he isn't a professional soldier. ‘Get better!’ they said, ‘Get some rest!’ He was denied surgery four times, although his arm never healed properly and was barely functioning after six weeks in hospitals.”

The Insider has in its possession the results of medical tests confirming the nature of the serviceman's injuries.

After the treatment, Alexei came home. At the end of his leave, he planned to return to the unit, but a relative who worked at the military enlistment office said that everyone from the unit was being sent to war, and Alexei decided to stay home.

“My husband spent ten months at home. On Oct. 4, 2023, the acting commander of his unit informed Alexei he was being prosecuted under Article 337 [absence without leave], and ordered him to report for duty immediately — and either go to war or face trial. At a family council, we decided prison was better than war, especially since no one could force him to go to the front from prison. I went to the unit with my husband. I asked around and found out they would keep him on the fourth floor with other AWOL soldiers. They were kept in a separate room, a barracks of sorts. No food was provided, however, and the conditions were terrible. My husband was told that if he went to Storm Z, he would be cleared of AWOL charges and released. He refused, saying he wouldn't kill anyone and that he had a problem with his arm, which wouldn't heal. We waited three months for a referral to the medical board.”

The medical board said Alexei was fit for service despite his injury.

“I have a document from a public clinic. [Alexei] was referred there by the neurologist of the same hospital where he later underwent examination by the board. The tests showed that my husband is disabled. His arm is shriveling up, dying off, and he needs urgent surgery. But the neurologist at the hospital said, ‘We’ll get him better after the war,’ and gave him category B.”

As Alina recalls, her husband spent around eight months in custody. At some point, he received another offer to go to war. “Campaigners came in, talking about the benefits of joining Storm Z, even though everyone knows it's a meat grinder. My husband refused, and we appealed to the court to challenge his category of fitness.”

Alexei never learned the court's decision. On May 31, 2024, he was taken to the so-called “Donetsk People's Republic” under the pretext of a transfer to another unit. There he was forced to participate in an assault near Krasnohorivka.

“On May 31, unknown officers arrived at the unit and put lists on the table, presumably with the names of soldiers assigned to another unit, in Rostov-on-Don. They said that all court hearings would be held there and that their unit was being disbanded. They ordered my husband and 34 other servicemen into KAMAZ trucks, seized their phones, drove them to an airbase, and flew them to Rostov. My husband and the others thought they were headed for a military base, but they were met by a convoy armed with machine guns and forced into buses. Eventually, they arrived in a village in Starobesheve district. There are two training ranges in the vicinity. The servicemen were divided into groups. My husband's group consisted of seven men. They were kept in a basement. They had no food except some dry rations, and they peed in a bottle. From time to time, they were allowed to go outside for workouts.

“He didn't get in touch until July 1, and when he called, he sounded intimidated, as though he’d been beaten or something. He said he was fine, but that visitation was not allowed. However, I managed to find out where he was based through his bank transactions history: although they weren't allowed into the store, they could hand over their cards and have groceries purchased for them. Later I also found out the number of his military unit and company: Military Unit 41698, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Company, 5th Assault Brigade. Then my husband became friends with a few servicemen and started getting in touch more often. Overall, he must have called me a dozen times or so. On July 15, he called and said that they were being taken to the assault near Krasnohorivka. I haven't heard from him since. I was told there were five of them on the mission. Three got out, and two were missing, meaning his fellow soldiers abandoned him.”

The Battle of Krasnohorivka in Donetsk Region continued throughout the spring and most of the summer of 2024. In August, Russian and Ukrainian sources reported the capture of the village by Russian troops.

“My husband had post-concussion syndrome, was on medication and had shrapnel stuck in his jaw, but they took him anyway”

Aside from shrapnel wound patients, soldiers suffering from post-concussion syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental health issues are also being sent back to the front. Military commanders have tried forcing back into service mobilized combatants with PTSD and a history of suicide attempts, psychosis, and even personality disorders and post-concussion syndrome.

“My husband has a mental disorder which he developed after a blast injury. No one wanted to treat him. Although he was referred to a military hospital, the hospital said there was no room. So he had to go to a civilian hospital, where his personality disorder diagnosis was confirmed. My husband has trouble finding his way around, quickly forgets things, and is a danger to himself and others. He's on medication, but the course of treatment ends today,” the wife of a serviceman from Stavropol complained.

After several concussions and a round of psychiatric care, Dmitry Sidorov, a 32-year-old contract serviceman from the town of Kamyshin, was also taken to the front. According to his wife Irina, in addition to concussions and increased anxiety levels, her husband was left with shrapnel in his hands and jaw — but none of this prevented the command from returning him to active duty.

As Irina says, her husband had been “stupid enough” to sign a three-month contract on a bet to prove to his friends that he was not a coward. “When my husband signed the contract, no one in our family knew about it. He told us about his deployment ten days before he left. We thought he was joking, and even tried to talk him out of it.”

When his contract expired, Dmitry went on leave — and then learned his contract had been automatically prolonged.

“They called him and said they didn't care what kind of papers he’d signed — the contract was renewed automatically, and he was supposed to show up, whether he wanted or not — or face desertion charges and jail. They said: ‘Don't make things complicated. Pack your things, or else!’ So he went there for a second time, and they sent him on an assault. As my husband recalls, when the soldiers expressed their outrage, the commander cut them short: ‘I don't give a f*ck about any of you! What matters is I get another medal!’”

According to Irina, Dmitry was injured during the assault:

“Few came back alive. My husband had a concussion and shrapnel wounds to his hands and chin, so he was sent to the hospital. The wounds were small, but there was a shard lodged in his chin and they refused to take it out. It's still there, moving around inside his jaw. My husband was told it could be a few years before the shard might come out on its own.”

The Insider has in its possession the results of medical tests confirming the nature of the serviceman's injuries.

After treatment in a military hospital, Dmitry was not referred to a medical board. Instead, his commanders resorted to all sorts of tricks to get him back into service. “They sent him on injury leave only after his parents intervened,” Irina says.

On leave, Dmitry went to civilian doctors, who confirmed the nature of his injuries, but he was never discharged to the reserve or received due compensation.

“We went to private clinics, where he had his chin and jaw X-rayed and his hand examined. He also had a back problem and several concussions. He was prescribed expensive tranquilizers, and the doctor said he absolutely had to take them.”

While Dmitry was on leave, his commanders kept asking him to return to the war. Irina says that her husband was getting a lot of threats and pressure:

“We hadn't even gotten through all the doctors yet when my husband started getting calls from his unit. And I've seen angry messages on Telegram with very rude orders to come back. Once they wrote: ‘Until you come back, [swear word], the whole platoon can't go on leave because of you. We’ll tell each of them that it’s you, you bastard, who’s keeping them in Ukraine.’”

However, according to Irina, Dmitry was not fit for combat because, in addition to physical injuries, he had other health problems.

“He has a bad heart and mental health issues, he received psychiatric care as a child, and he wasn't even supposed to be drafted into the army. He sent his medical history to some commander on Telegram, but the commander said: ‘I don't care who wrote what in those papers. Either you volunteer to go, or we'll come after you, tie you up, and take you there anyway.’”

After the threats, Dmitry came to the unit. There, he was charged with going AWOL and placed in custody with other offenders awaiting deployment to Ukraine. “I don’t remember how long he spent in lock-up, but they never let him out. They didn't even allow family visits, because some visitors brought drugs.”

According to Irina, at some point Dmitry “freaked out” and asked to talk to the unit commander. “There was no deployment to Ukraine, and my husband started asking his commanding officer — I don't know the rank — to let him go home. I was pregnant, and his father had just had surgery. My husband said, ‘Just tell me when the deployment is, and I’ll be there.’ They let him go, and he never received any calls or texts, but military police soon started looking for him as a deserter.”

Dmitry and his wife moved to a different apartment in an attempt to escape, but the police tracked him down anyway, pushed him into a car, and took him away. “Before grabbing him, they said, ‘You can leave your stuff behind — you won’t need it anyway.’ At the military base, he was kept with AWOL soldiers for a few months, from October till March.”

While in custody, as Irina recalls, Dmitry was being coerced to join Storm Z assault units. He was kept in a punishment cell, and he was beaten.

“My husband refused to join Storm Z and said that if he were to go to war, he would only go with his unit, so they put him in a punishment cell. He never mentioned the punishment cell because he didn’t want me to worry. I learned it later from his fellow soldiers. He only mentioned frequent interrogations and complained of headaches and kidney pain, although he hadn't had such problems before. When I visited him, he showed me his hands, and I saw pits on his fingers. I asked what those were, and he said, ‘How do you think they are making us sign those contracts? They stick needles into our fingers, right where the hangnails are, and start moving them under the fingernails. Guys who can't take it anymore give up, sign contracts, and leave.”

After half a year in captivity, Dmitry managed to escape, but not for long.

“He never told me he’d run away. I asked, ‘Did they let you go?’ And he said, ‘What does it matter? I’m here now.’ I think he escaped — how else? In April, they came for him again and took him to the military base in handcuffs.”

Irina planned to visit his husband on his birthday in July 2024, but in May he called and said they were being urgently transported to an unknown location.

“He told me they were leaving. They were put on trucks, taken to an airfield, and flown to the [so-called] DPR. They had training there and were sent to assaults for any misdemeanor. They didn’t even get any equipment and had to buy everything themselves. He sent me photos of his purchases: uniform, trainers, armored vest, tactical gloves. Meanwhile, they were barely paying him 20,000 [rubles, or $215] a month. He sent home more than half of it. When I asked why he was earning so little, he said: ‘You should be happy they’re paying me at all.’ Soon they started sending him on missions as part of small crews, three to five men strong. He went on one such mission in July 2024 and never returned. His commanders have been leaving me on ‘read’. He is not even listed as killed or missing in action — but as an active serviceman still getting that tiny salary.”