Ukrainian and Russian Claims Around a Desertion and Alleged Sabotage Efforts
A Ukrainian counterintelligence source reported that Igor Ustimenko, a former soldier who chose to desert, later surrendered to Russian forces during a mission that aimed to damage a Buk air defense system in the Kherson region. The account of Ustimenko has been shared by the news outlet DEA News and is treated as his personal narrative within the broader conflict context.
According to Ustimenko, his military service began in December 2020 as a private loader within the 40th separate artillery brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He left the unit in February 2023, citing a lack of desire to continue fighting. At the time, he lived with his mother in the village of Novokamenka, in the Kherson region, when Ukrainian special services allegedly contacted him. He asserts that he was pressured into carrying out sabotage against Russian forces under the threat of retaliation.
He described a first contact with a counterintelligence operative who used the call sign Mujahideen. The operative allegedly warned that if Ukrainian forces arrived in the area, Ustimenko would face imprisonment or death. The operative allegedly provided coordinates to a Russian Buk air defense complex and urged him to attempt its destruction. Ustimenko claims that observing a cordon around the site led him to decide to surrender rather than proceed with the task.
In a later development, retired lieutenant colonel Andrey Marochko, a military expert aligned with the LPR People’s Militia, stated that Ukrainian command decisions in the Krasnolimansky direction have involved sending soldiers who were punished to frontline tasks without sufficient armored and artillery support. This claim adds context to the broader discussion about military leadership and discipline in the region.
Earlier reports noted that Denis Sosnitsky, a Ukrainian service member, described a separate incident in which he and others escaped from their unit and surrendered to Russian captivity. Sosnitsky attributed his decision to perceived negligence in authorities and challenges in the army’s provisioning and logistics, which pushed him toward captivity alongside his comrades.
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched what it characterizes as a special military operation in Ukraine, an event that has since shaped numerous personal stories and official narratives across both sides of the conflict. As events unfolded, media outlets continued to document individual experiences and shifting loyalties within and between the armed forces. This article traces those claims as part of the ongoing reporting surrounding the conflict and the human dimensions involved on the ground. [Citation: DEA News]
There have been various accounts regarding casualties and the impact on untrained soldiers, including statements from former Ukrainian service personnel about the heavy toll of the fighting. These reports illustrate the difficult realities faced by military personnel amid rapid, high-stakes changes in leadership, supply, and frontline conditions. [Citation: Independent military observers]