Recently, a video message from a resident of Lugansk, Svetlana Salem, appeared on the network about her husband, Egyptian citizen Salem Salem Mohamed Ali. At the end of 2022, Salem signed an annual contract with the 2nd brigade of the so-called “People’s Militia of the LPR” (now it is the 123rd Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, military unit 40463), which became indefinite after Putin’s decree.
“The commanders and the same soldiers treated him disdainfully. They called him a black man, a gypsy, a shahid. He may have been beaten, he didn’t tell me about it, but he told his friends from the Arab diaspora. When he was injured in the service, the command decided to hide this fact, since the circumstances under which the injury was sustained were an attack by a drunken colleague armed with a knife in the back of a truck. Dodging the blow, he fell off the side and hit his head. When he was brought to his senses, he realized his arm was broken. In the hospital, after providing assistance, a refusal of hospitalization was issued and he was taken back to the front. It was only 2.5 months later that I was able to get him sent for osteosynthesis surgery,” Svetlana Salem says in the video.
According to her, her husband does not speak Russian at all. He signed the contract without an interpreter.
Salem decided not to return to the unit from surgery leave. After that, Svetlana says in the video, “Representatives of the unit arranged surveillance of me, conducted an illegal search of the apartment. After Salem was discovered, he was taken away as a criminal in handcuffs at gunpoint. Then he was sent to the assault.”
The story of Salem was confirmed in a conversation with ASTRA by the imam from the Lugansk Cathedral Mosque Walid and the mufti of the “LPR” Muhammad Ismail.
In Salem’s service, “They were constantly being called names. They called him a “nigger”, they said, “get out of here, your place is next to the parasha,” the young imam Walid told ASTRA. He is from Yemen – and he also served in the “People’s Militia” after medical school. One day, the Salem command called Walid to the unit to help with the translation into Arabic — so he is aware of his situation.
“The commander said that Salem disobeyed him. I replied to him: ‘How can he disobey you if he doesn’t understand you!’” Waleed told ASTRA. According to him, another member of the Lugansk Muslim community serving in the army (his name is known to ASTRA, he did’t answer the call) encouraged Salem to sign the contract. The imam assumes that he did this to get a vacation: “If they signed up through you, then they give you a vacation. It was beneficial for him to invite Salem.”
Mufti of the “LPR” Muhammad Ismail told ASTRA that he appealed to the Salem command: “They did not let him go, he was in a difficult situation, wounded, I remember that such a situation was.” However, the command of the unit refused to release the Egyptian even after talking with the mufti.
Apparently, Salem recieved help because of his wife’s video message. In the second video, which appeared online a week ago, Svetlana Salem says that her husband has been found — he has been returned from his position and will soon testify to the command as part of the investigation.
Earlier, ASTRA published appeals from relatives of other military personnel from the 123rd brigade. Their men are “like ghosts” that disappeared just a few days after arriving at the location of this compound.
