Russian soldier defects to Ukraine after spying for resistance group for months
By Eve Brennan, Olga Voitovych, Anna Chernova and Kostyantyn Hak, CNN
(CNN) — A Russian soldier has defected to Ukraine, according to the Freedom for Russia Legion, the “I Want to Live Project,” and the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine.
The defected soldier – with the call sign “Silver” – was an active serviceman for the unit “Storm” before volunteering for the Freedom for Russia Legion during the “winter of 2024,” the legion, a group of Russian dissidents fighting for Ukraine, said.
Silver, a 24-year-old from Siberia who joined the Russian army in 2021, gave his reasons for defecting in an interview posted on YouTube by the “I Want to Live” project – a Ukrainian government initiative which receives appeals from Russian servicemen in Ukraine wishing to surrender.
“I wanted to serve in the army, I gave an oath to protect my motherland. My motherland is there [in Russia] and no-one attacked it. I didn’t want to serve for Russia during the war and didn’t want to die for Putin,” he said.
Silver took part in the fighting in Ukraine’s eastern Avdiivka area from the Russian side of the border as a drone operator, he explained in the interview. He had also previously served on China’s border with Russia.
“Silver was a member of the resistance for several months and transmitted important operational information to us (the location of forces and equipment, plans, tasks in a specific section of the front, etc.),” the Freedom for Russia Legion said.
Escaping the Storm unit, Silver “activated explosive devices” in the unit’s headquarters, seriously injuring the commander and several senior officers, according to the legion.
The legion posted a video to its YouTube channel taken from a hidden camera claiming to show the operation. Several men are seen in the video in army uniforms before an explosion erupts, causing a fire.
“During the retreat, Silver mined the path and went along the agreed route. The legion command, together with the ‘I Want to Live’ team, organized Silver’s exit from the combat line. Now he is undergoing a basic training course as a legion recruit,” the Legion said.
Ukraine’s intelligence department said the operation to get Silver out was named “Ocheret.”
“The Russian was motivated to cooperate with Ukraine by the systematic war crimes and other crimes of the command, including extrajudicial executions, beatings, and robberies in the occupation unit,” the Defense Intelligence said on Telegram on Tuesday.
Silver claimed in the interview that he had seen some Russian soldiers killed by their own commander.
CNN is unable to verify this claim but has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment.
The Defense Intelligence said Ukraine was able to obtain valuable intelligence on the location, number, and intentions of Russian forces “in a particular frontline area” because of the interaction with Silver.
The-CNN-Wire
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