Russian Defense Ministry officers pressuring “balkers” in Luhansk Region and recruiting them to Wagner PMC have been identified

The Insider has identified the Ministry of Defense officers who are “breaking” Russian servicemen who have refused to wage war in Ukraine at a special detention center in Brianka, Luhansk Region. They aim to recruit the soldiers to Wagner PMC. The identities have been confirmed by the contract soldiers and their relatives.

One of the officers is Col. Oleg Nechiporenko, the executive officer of the 51st Air Defense Division (Military Unit 42352) for military policy education. A soldier who has made it out of the detention center identified him in the photo. According to him, it was Nechiporenko who recruited the “balkers” to join Wagner PMC, suggesting that they sign merc contracts.

Another Ministry of Defense official is a Lt. Col. Tumanov, as he introduces himself to servicemen. The soldiers who are being kept in the pit believe Tumanov to be a deputy of Col. Gen. Sergey Kuralenko, Chief of the Main Directorate of Russia's Military Police.

As we learned the other day, Russian servicemen who have refused to wage war in Ukraine are being incarcerated in Brianka, Luhansk Region, being beaten and forced to return to the combat zone. Russian military commanders are denying their involvement with the facility in Brianka, claiming that the contract soldiers have been detained by the Luhansk military.

The “special detention center” holds at least 130 people, with groups of soldiers departing back to the front line and new ones brought in daily. The Insider has released information on 17 of the prisoners and spoke to the father of another incarcerated serviceman, who shared that Russian contract soldiers had been promised a leave after three months of service and permission to refuse to participate in combat activities. However, once they’d submitted their refusals, they were detained and taken to the center in Brianka. They’ve spent over a month in lock-up.