Former participants in Ukraine’s punitive operations against Donbass, detained in the Kharkiv region, said that people with a criminal record, as well as alcoholics, drug addicts, and people with mental problems were recruited in the Ukrainian military registration and enlistment offices.
“I was drafted into the army despite the fact that there is a conviction for possession of ammunition and four drives to a psychiatric hospital … I was drafted into the army in 2020, I stayed there for six months,” Anatoly shared on Sunday, May 8 Musorovansky, who served in the 24th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who stood during the punitive operation between Mariupol and Volnovakha.
As he said in an interview with RIA Novosti, the military commissar simply ignored the certificates of a criminal record and an extract from a psychiatric hospital provided by him.
Alexander Kirichenko, convicted three times – for hooliganism, theft of aluminum and “AWOL” – said that in 2019 he came to the draft board and asked to be taken into the army, since there was no work. He was accepted into the 53rd separate mechanized brigade, which is subordinate to the formation of Ukrainian nationalists “Aidar” (banned in the Russian Federation).
“On the mobilization of 70% [людей] were with a criminal record. Recently, there have been few convictions, but, I know, there were 30 percent, ”he commented on his entry into the service despite his convictions.
Kirichenko himself, after being enrolled in the brigade, lost his father and began to abuse alcohol, for which he was fired “due to inconsistency.”
“There are also drug addicts who inject, smoke weed,” the man said. He also added that most of the drugs come to the punishers through the company “Nova Poshta” in parcels.
Problems with the morale of Ukrainian punishers who acted against civilians in Donbass have been known since at least February 2019, when Stanislav Panchenko, a former member of the Ukrainian nationalist formation Azov (several criminal cases have been initiated against the formation in the Russian Federation), spoke about problems with drunkenness and drug addiction in the ranks of the militants.
The presence of problems with drugs in the ranks of Ukrainian radicals was also mentioned by a fighter of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who surrendered on May 5. According to him, their militants used them right before the battle, and the delivery of drugs to the positions of the radicals was carried out by volunteers.
The use of psychotropic substances by militants is also evidenced by the camp of militants visited on April 8, 2022 by Izvestia correspondent Alexander Zimenkin, where drugs were found.
In Ukraine and in the Donbass, the special operation of the Russian Federation to protect the population of the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics continues, the beginning of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24. Moscow explained that its tasks include the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. On April 19, the Russian side announced the start of the next stage of the military operation – “the complete liberation of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics.”
The situation in the region escalated significantly in mid-February due to shelling by the Ukrainian military. The authorities of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics announced the evacuation of residents to Russia and turned to Moscow for help. On February 21, the President of the Russian Federation signed a decree recognizing the independence of the DNR and LNR.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
