Dawn
Active member
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.
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.
