Sitting in a basement studio hidden in the centre of Yerevan, Artyom reflected on his decision to desert the Russian army after a year spent fighting in Ukraine.
Just two weeks earlier, the former platoon commander was living in a trench. He has since abandoned his post and fled to the Armenian capital.
"I wanted no part in the imperialistic habits of our ruler," he said. "But I do feel guilt in front of Ukraine ... I could have said no, I just didn't know what the consequences would be."
Artyom, who asked for his last name to be withheld out of fear for his safety, is one of the growing number of Russian combatants who have fled the army over the past 20 months of war.
Coming from a small city in southern Siberia, Artyom said he joined a military boarding school as a teenager. He later signed a three-year contract with the Russian military, but quickly became disillusioned.
As Russian troops invaded Ukraine, he was stationed on the border training conscripts, but as the invasion faltered, forcing the Kremlin to announce a large-scale mobilisation, he was ordered to join the fighting.
Artyom was assigned to lead a signal platoon. He denied killing Ukrainians in combat and claimed he did not participate in or witness war crimes, but he still grapples with his role in the fighting.
"I don't try to excuse myself. My work enabled other forces to take part in the hostilities," he said.
この記事は The Guardian Weekly の November 03, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は The Guardian Weekly の November 03, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Moving Back To Moscow: How Dream Of Freedom Unravelled
The army of riot police had finally retreated from Tbilisi's Rustaveli Avenue, the broad thoroughfare in front of the parliament building, back into the barricaded parliamentary estate.
News Of Raisi's Death Met With Fireworks And Few Tears
Activists in Iran have said there is little mood to mourn the death of the president, Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash near the border with Azerbaijan on Sunday.
Red Flag? Alito Scandal Casts Doubt On Supreme Court Impartiality
With less than six months to go before America chooses its next president, the US supreme court finds itself in an unenviable position: not only has it been drawn into a volatile election, but swirling ethical scandals have cast doubt on its impartiality.
Infected blood Final report vindicates the families still awaiting justice
\"We have been gaslit for generations,\" was the reaction of Andy Evans, chair of the campaign group Tainted Blood, in response to the final report into the contaminated blood scandal, which was published on Monday.
The race to evacuate Vovchansk's remaining residents
Rescue operations ever more dangerous as fighting reaches Kharkiv townat the centre of Russia’s latest offensive
Alice Munro 1931 -2024
The Nobel prize winner whose masterly accounts of ordinary lives in smalltown Canada elevated the short story into the highest form of literature
Creativity takes root
From Nikide Saint Phalle's Tuscan Tarot Garden to Barbara Hepworth's coastal oasis, artists’ green spaces are about somuch more than plants
Tory war on overseas students is all about saving their own skins
A key turning point in British politics was Tony Blair's famous priorities: \"education, education, education\".
Catalans once longed for freedom, but it doesn't look so appealing now
For the first time since 1980, parties opposing Catalonia's independence from Spain have the support of a majority of voters in the region.
I believe that Ricky's law has saved lives, it has changed lives, restored families'
Ricky Klausmeyer-Garcia’s friends struggled to get him addiction treatment, leading to the creation of alawin his name. Buta year after his death, profound questions remain about how best to help those with substance use disorder in the US.
