1/ Russians who volunteered to fight in the Donetsk and Luhansk 'People's Republics' have not only been mistakenly listed as deserters, but are being victimised by scammers in their attempts to get off the list. The story of one man who volunteered aged 18 illustrates this. ⬇️ 
2/ As reported earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defence has retrospectively registered all members of the republics' forces as Russian Army mobilised troops. A bureaucratic blunder has led to many volunteers, including entire units, being listed as deserters and prosecuted.
4/ One such 'deserter' is Arseny Akshinsky from the Altai region. When the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, he was living and working in St Petersburg as an IT specialist and earned a good salary. He then "dropped everything and went to the front" aged 18.
5/ Interviewed by the Russian online newspaper Mash in October 2022, Akshinsky professed to be "bored" and talked about his work as a combat medic and his advice for newly mobilised recruits. He was given the call sign 'Siberia' (Altai is in southern Siberia).
6/ As he commented in a March 2024 interview, his fellow soldiers were incredulous: "Dude, what are you doing here? You just graduated from school." Most of those who knew him were also shocked; only his parents and a couple of friends reportedly supported him.
7/ Probably due to his extremely young age, he appears to have been protected by his comrades. He explained that "they took care of me a little bit" and "did not send me [on the battlefield] for some serious business." He found an "understanding" girlfriend in Donetsk city.
8/ Akshinshy fought for two years near Avdiivka, first as a medical instructor, then as a UAV operator. He served first with the Donetsk People's Republic's Pyatnashka battalion, then the Cossack Volga unit.
9/ He currently serves in the Espanola volunteer unit, originally established for Russian football hooligans who wanted to fight in Ukraine. In January 2023, he was retrospectively declared to be a mobilised soldier of the Russian army, despite his ongoing service with Espanola.
10/ He acquired his new status without his knowledge and despite not having signed a contract or sworn an oath. Like thousands of others, he was surprised to find in the summer of 2023 that he was now on the wanted list for supposedly deserting from the Russian army.
11/ Akshinsky was hospitalised due to illness and was subsequently sent to fight at Artemivsk near Bakhmut. His mother Alla sought to get him off the wanted list and hired a lawyer for 75,000 rubles ($852) to represent her in court.
12/ However, the lawyer turned out to be a scammer and disappeared. Alla is now suing in the Altai courts for almost 200,000 rubles ($2270) in compensation.
13/ Despite being an early and enthusiastic supporter of Putin's war, Arseniy Akshinsky still faces prosecution and the prospect of being transferred to a punishment unit, where he would most likely be sent into near-suicidal 'meat assaults'. /end
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