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As the war in Ukraine grinds into a third year, Russian soldiers on frontline deployments are getting desperate.
“You can only leave wounded or dead,” a former military officer tells Associated Press investigative reporter Erika Kinetz. “No one wants to leave dead.”
He decided his best option was to ask a friend and fellow officer to shoot him in the leg – and then he fled with the help of an anti-war group called Idite Lesom. It’s a play on words in Russian – a reference to the covert nature of its work, but also a popular idiom that means "Get lost.” The group has helped thousands of people evade or desert military service, leaving the horrific conditions in Ukraine for a life that will be spent in hiding.
Now, former soldiers are waiting for a welcome from Western nations that hasn’t come. To the countries grappling with Russia’s vast and growing diaspora, the military defectors present particular concern: Are they spies? War criminals? Or heroes?
This week, in partnership with The Associated Press, we hear about why these military defectors are not finding sanctuary in the West and how the staggering casualties are playing into the future of the war. Then, we meet a Ukrainian man on a quest to give fallen soldiers – Russian and Ukrainian alike – a final resting place.
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