But if CBS News correspondent Debora Patta’s rare, candid conversation with a Russian paratrooper is anything to go by, Putin’s plans may run counter to a growing sense of resentment among young men sent beyond Russia’s borders to conduct the leader’s war in Ukraine.
Paratrooper Pavel Filatyev told Patta that he was so disgusted with the war that he defected and decided to tell his story – despite the fact that it put him at great personal risk. His account is all the more remarkable as he is the first Russian soldier to break out and publish an inside account of what it’s like to fight in Putin’s war.
A still photo provided to CBS News by Pavel Filatyev shows the Russian paratrooper, who fled Russia into exile after serving in the military during its invasion of Ukraine’s Kherson region. Courtesy of Pavel Filatyev
As missiles rained down on Ukraine in the early hours of February 24, it was impossible to ignore that Vladimir Putin had something truly sinister planned. Surprisingly, many Russian soldiers on the front lines had no idea that they had just invaded Ukraine. They hadn’t even been told what to do.
“We just started moving forward,” Filatiev told CBS News. “When the bombing started, we thought NATO was approaching us, not Ukraine.”
He told Pata that he served in Russia’s 56th Air Assault Regiment, which was sent across the border to seize the southern Kherson region early in the conflict.
“Only 10 days later I realized that there is no NATO here, it’s only Ukrainians,” he said.
Russian forces drive a tank during their invasion of Ukraine. Russian military brochure
Patta asked the Russian soldier if he felt cheated.
“I know they have been fooling us for many years and everything shows [Russian] State television has nothing to do with reality,” he said. “Every person in Russia knows this. We have been lied to for many years and unfortunately now the same is happening in war.”
Filatieff provided documents that appear to verify his credentials and support his claim that he served in the regiment, but CBS News could not independently verify his account.
He said he was eventually evacuated due to injury, but until then he felt trapped.
“The Russian paratrooper brigade has a similar attitude to the US Navy Seals — it’s cowardly and shameful to lay down your weapons and abandon your post,” he told Patta. “Although we began to realize that this war was wrong, we did not know what to do.”
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With outdated weapons and no food, water or blankets in the first days of spring, Filatiev said he and his fellow soldiers were forced to steal supplies, but he said many overdid it.
“There has been a lot of looting of laptops and mobile phones. I can understand why – not only are they underpaid, but when they think they might die tomorrow, human greed takes over,” he said.
Filatiev said his and the other Russian soldiers’ phones were confiscated by commanders during the battle, so he has no video or photos of the fighting.
As for the war crimes Russia is accused of committing in places like Bucha and Irpin, Filatiev said he only learned of the allegations when he fled the fighting and eventually gained access to the Internet. He insisted that he himself did not witness any atrocities.
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“At first I didn’t want to believe it was true,” he said. “It’s horrible for me to realize that in my military, in our country, there are people who did this.”
As the terrible, ugly truth began to sink in, Filatyev said many of his comrades went to extremes to avoid fighting against Ukraine.
“They would deliberately shoot themselves in the legs and pretend it was an accident so they could send them home and give them a huge compensation,” he told Patta.
Asked what made him take the risk to come forward to tell his story, Filatyev said it was “because if nothing is done, there will be a nuclear war or our government will turn Russia into North Korea.”
Filatiev fled Russia after coming forward to tell his story, which he published for the first time in a 141-page memoir detailing his role in the Kherson invasion. But while he managed to escape, he does not reveal his location. Now he practically lives in hiding, fearing for his own safety.
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