It became known that in the Novosibirsk region in the military unit 57849, the military staged, in their own words, a riot. They broke windows and destroyed the barracks, after which at least 10 people escaped from the unit.
According to ASTRA, before the conflict, some of the escaped soldiers demanded medical assistance. The reason for the riot was that they wanted to be sent back to the front.
According to the local publication NGS.EN, about 30 people who had previously voluntarily left military units for various reasons unrelated to the service from all over the Central Military District were seconded to unit 57849.”According to ASTRA, at least one of the fugitives was declared to have left the unit on his own while on leave due to injury.
Earlier, one of the escaped soldiers, Viktor Sergeev, told ASTRA that “The command of the unit treated us badly.” He did not give details, but assured that “All relevant documents, video and voice messages have been sent to certain structures.”
Before the riot, the military tried to resolve the issue with the military police, according to a video that turned out to be at the disposal of ASTRA.
In the video, a dozen soldiers try to explain to a military police officer that they cannot return to the combat zone because of their injuries, and also complain that they were brought to the unit by deception: “We were deceived there, deceived here, everywhere.”
The military also says that an ambulance arrived to one of the men who became sick, but it was not allowed into the territory of the unit.
“You don’t think of us as people. The boys are dying there so that you can live here,” one of the men tells a military police officer. “Yes, I will be here, and you will go. <…> Regardless of your prejudices, regardless of your injuries, you will go anyway,” he replies.
In one of the videos, an employee of a military unit tells the men that the brigade commander “forbade the SOC company [who voluntarily left the unit] to go down” to the floor where, presumably, the medical center is located. She says the doctor will “come up to them soon.” “When will he arrive? People feel bad. He has been coming for two days now,” the military replied to her.
ASTRA managed to find another witness to the riot. He asked for anonymity, but confirmed his words with documents and told the editorial board what preceded the escape of the military from military unit 57849 to Kochenevo.
According to the source, there were “110-120 people in the barracks of the military unit at the time of the start of the riot, approximately at least 100.” He himself was sent to barracks 57849 from unit 98551 in Abakan, consisting of 45 more people.
“Ready to go beyond the tape [that is, to the zone of the so-called “SMO”] there were probably 8-10 people. All the others are sick, on crutches, sedentary.” They were brought there on the night of November 8th. In the morning, the sick military began to write reports to the commander about the provision of medical care and the Air Force, but these reports did not go anywhere.
“The guy was [in barracks 57849], he didn’t have half a foot on both legs. His military unit, I don’t know which one, fired him, commissioned him. He was somehow stuffed into this Kochanev unit. And he was there for a month,” says the ASTRA interlocutor. He recounts the words of the representative of the commandant’s office: “You’re not forwarding here. They’re sending everyone here. Lying down, on stretchers, blind. No one cares what state you’re in.”
According to the military, he and his colleagues repeatedly asked for the help of a doctor: “We already realized that we could not pass the Air Force base, since everyone there was shouting that you were all going to the ‘SVO’ zone.” For several days they asked the commandant of the Novosibirsk garrison and a representative of the military prosecutor’s office to arrive. Due to inaction and refusal to provide even medical care, the military began a riot.
According to the latest information, all participants in the escape from the military unit in Kochenevo were detained on November 13.
One of the wounded was particularly noted by the interlocutor of the editorial office — this is 36-Lieutenant Alexander Andreev. An ASTRA source claims that Andreev lost the ability to speak after being injured.
“Lieutenant Andreev hears, but he is mute and communicates only by phone. He writes notes and gives them to read. You know, he needs to learn sign language and he needs a phone right now. And in this military unit, the phone is taken away — from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. And he needs help. He has one [only right] working hand. Personally, I cut his nails. The situation is such that he constantly needs help — to open a jar, pour coffee. It may fall. Personally, I have been constantly with him since the 8th. Because of the injury, his head hurts and his eyes are watering, it feels like he has a constant fever.”
Prior to part 57849, Andreev was treated in the neurology of the Abakan ICD, where he was assigned the category “G” (temporarily unfit).
According to the latest information, Andreev was sent to Rostov-on-Don. Then he may be expected to return to the “SMO” zone.
More than a hundred military personnel from part 57849 ended up in Rostov — now they should have been sent to the combat zone.
“We were taken away [from the unit], I f**king lost almost everything, maybe 5 people out of all are left. There were still people from other directions on board. 180 people joined the infantry, 22 were taken away by the Airborne forces,” says one of the soldiers taken “behind the tape” on an audio message that turned out to be at the disposal of ASTRA.
“In short, they are all already there. They will be moving to the front now. How long they have to go and what direction — the f*ck knows. Nobody says anything. I’m f*cking sick of this f*cking mess,” a source told ASTRA.
