Conscripts on the edge: Life and death on the Russian border

I don’t want anyone to see what we saw — wrote a conscript stationed in the Belgorod border region in a letter to the editorial office of "Ludiej Bajkala." The man told journalists about the daily realities of service, attacks by Ukrainians, and suicides among his colleagues.

The conflict in Ukraine has been ongoing for two and a half years. During this time, the topic of conscripts' participation in the war has often been mentioned. Now it resurfaces after the Ukrainian offensive on the territory of the Russian Kursk region. There, largely only inexperienced soldiers were left to face the regular army.

As a result, each day brought news of an increasing number of conscripts killed or taken prisoner. Seeing this, Sergei (name changed by the editorial office), who served in the Belgorod region for 8 months, decided to tell the story of his service and what soldiers deployed to the border face daily.

It was terrifying for about a month and a half or two, but then we got used to this life [...] We learned a lot. But I don’t want anyone to see what we saw — Sergei wrote in a letter to the editorial office of "Ludiej Bajkala."

In a letter to the editorial office, Sergei mentions that there is a shortage of people at the border, and even when someone does come, they are mostly conscripts. He himself witnessed when 25 soldiers in the border region were injured, and no one was sent to replace them for a long time.

The conscript also revealed that those stationed near the Ukrainian border had access to only one medication, promedol. This, although it has anesthetic properties, also has very strong narcotic effects, which eliminate the injured from further service after administration.

A significant portion of the letter to the editorial office also focused on two other conscripts who committed suicide after a month of service. According to him, even though they were in a safe place, the constant tension, fear, and stress might have led to such a decision. After their deaths, the commanders reportedly told other soldiers to "think of their loved ones before they do it."