Up to 40% of Russian military contractors who participated in the hostilities in Ukraine and were withdrawn for regrouping are refusing to return to the front line.

Militarnyi informs about this.

Ruslan Leviev, Founder of the Conflict Intelligence Team, shared the information about those refusing to rejoin Russian troops on the air of “Nastoyashee Vremya”, Ukrinform reports.

“People refusing is becoming an increasingly systemic phenomenon. They are present in almost every formation that returned from Ukraine. According to our estimations, from 20 to 40% of all the military contractors who have been returned from the territory of Ukraine and are being prepared for re-entry, refuse to go into battle,” Leviev said.

According to him, if a soldier took part in hostilities in Ukraine as part of a battalion tactical group, which was taken back to Russia and was being prepared for re-entry into Ukraine, but he refuses to go back, it is considered not desertion but defiance of the order.

Ruslan Leviev added that various examples show that all those who are refusing to take part in further hostilities “are intimidated by criminal prosecution and being dragged to the military prosecutor’s office.”

However, according to the observations of the Conflict Intelligence Team, no one has yet been convicted.

Previously, the Ukrainian Armed Forces of Ukraine repulsed Russian tank attacks in the Donetsk region and seized their armored vehicles.

The troops defending the line near Donetsk are holding back Russian forces’ attempts to break through to Krasnohorivka.