As many as 60 Russian paratroopers from a unit in Pskov Oblast have refused to fight in Ukraine, according to the independent Russian newspaper Pskovskaya Gubernia. The troops were fired and some were threatened with criminal prosecution for subjugation or non-compliance with the order, the newspaper wrote on its Telegram channel. Insider could not verify the report independently. Pskovskaya Gubernia is a Russian newspaper known for its independent reporting. Amid the country’s crackdown on independent media last month, authorities raided the newspaper’s offices and the homes of senior officials, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Local activist Nikolay Kuzmin, who is linked to Russia’s Yabloko opposition party, appeared to confirm the report in the Telegram. Kuzmin said he spoke to a driver who was transporting some of the Belarusian paratroopers back to Pskov, an important base for Russian airborne forces. The Russian military air force, the VDV, has suffered heavy casualties in Ukraine, which has undermined the previous “elite” regime. One unit within the VDV, the infamous 331st Parachute Regiment, lost its commander, Colonel Sergei Suharev, and at least 39 other members. Russian forces have suffered heavy casualties since launching their invasion of Ukraine, and reports indicate that morale is deteriorating. Pskov’s paratroopers are not the only ones reported to have refused to fight. At least 11 members of Russia’s Rosgvardia National Guard in the Khakassia region have staged a similar uprising, Newsweek reported, citing Russian-language news agency New Focus. Human rights lawyer Pavel Tsikhov told the Telegram that Captain Farid Chitav and 11 of his Rosgvardia subordinates refused to invade Ukraine on February 25 because the orders were “illegal,” Newsweek reported. Some Russian captives said their leaders had lied to them about the plan to invade Ukraine, which left them unprepared for the fierce resistance. Despite the many advantages of the Russian army, it failed to achieve the quick victory it had hoped for in Ukraine. The head of the UK intelligence service, Jeremy Fleming, said Russian President Vladimir Putin had “massively misjudged” the situation before invading, in part because his advisers were “afraid to tell him the truth”. NATO estimated last month that between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in action in Ukraine. In a rare honest admission, a Kremlin spokesman admitted to Sky News on Thursday that Russia had “significant troop losses and is a huge tragedy for us.”
