Last Updated on 03/09/2024 by Arun jain
A Russian commander who is accused of sending troops into a deadly attack in Ukraine has been awarded the title of Hero of Russia a month after the mission, according to an independent publication.
ASTRA Telegram channel, a project run by independent Russian journalists, spoke to Alina Bolvinova, the widow of Mikhail Shebetun – one of the Russian soldiers who was deployed as part of a mission in the main front-line town of Avdivka in eastern Ukraine in February. .
Russia in October 2023 a Major offensive in Avdiivkawhich has been the target of an offensive by Moscow’s forces since 2014 when Russian Pres Vladimir Putin Illegally annexed the southern Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.
Avdivka, with a pre-war population of 32,000, fell to Russian forces on 17 February. Kiev said that its forces have withdrew from the city After months of fighting. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Said that a decision has been taken Save the lives of his soldiers, And then Russia took full control of the area, marking Moscow’s biggest victory for months.
Russian Colonel Alexei Ksenofontov “got drunk and sent dozens of deployed and contract soldiers on a deadly rampage,” Astra reported.
Newsweek Could not independently verify the report and reached out to Russia’s Defense Ministry for comment via email.
“The last time my husband called me was on February 14, 2024… he told me in plain text that this was probably our last conversation, as he had already been warned that as soon as he reached the scene [near Avdiivka]Their phones will be taken away,” Bolvinova told the publication.
“The commander made it clear to them that they were being led to their deaths,” she said.
Bolvinova said she learned of her husband’s death on March 9. A month later, he was awarded the title of Hero of Russia, according to a Kremlin propagandist and Putin ally. Vladimir SolovyovAstra reported.
Bolvinova appealed to Putin about Ksenofontov’s conduct in the war after her husband’s death.
“How long will brigade commander Alexei Ksenofontov continue to mistreat soldiers, torture them and deliberately send them to their deaths?” she said.
“And do you think our army really deserves a commander like ‘Orel’? [Syrotyuk Andrey Ivanovich]Which, according to information regularly appearing on the Internet, allows himself to cancel our soldiers who refuse to carry out his and Tiger’s criminal orders, or commanders who are not able to make, like the current acting commander of the military unit 29760 Averin DS. Strong-willed decisions and taking responsibility…?” Bolvinova said in her appeal to the Russian president.
In February, Andrey Morozov, a Russian soldier and military blogger, He was reported by his lawyer to have died by suicide shortly after revealing the scale of Moscow’s troop losses at the Battle of Avdivka.
Former Minister of Defense of Russia Sergei Shoigu Said there was “minimal damage” in Moscow Fight for Avdiivka.
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