Russian forces serviceman Sviatoslav Shchedrin (born 1994), serving in a rifle unit within the 1st Slavyansk Motor Rifle Brigade, recorded a video appeal that feels less like a statement and more like a plea from someone cornered by fear. He said that after combat he was met not with clarity or protection, but with intimidation, threats, and a sense that his life was hanging by a thread. He described his desperation bluntly:
“I’m afraid for my life. They lie everywhere. I don’t know what to do. I don’t trust anyone anymore. <…> I’m asking you to open a case on me, conduct an inquiry into me, and save me. I’m terribly frightened. I want to be held accountable under the law, not to be ‘wiped out.’”

He claimed that in 2024 he carried out missions without a clearly defined assignment to a specific battalion or company—like he was being used, but never properly “placed.” His first sortie near Tonenke, he said, turned into chaos under heavy fire, including mortars and reported cluster munitions. After the fighting, he stated he was left alone, concussed, and in shock. The next day—without communications and without the ability to evacuate wounded—he said he withdrew by himself, reached an allied unit, and was evacuated to Donetsk, where he was handed over to a commander with the call sign “Puma.” But he alleged that instead of support, he was warned that punishment was coming:
“I explained everything to Puma, how it was, but he said I’m most likely done for, because I was the only one left, and that Battalion Commander Bulat would come and I’d be screwed.”

He went on to say that still concussed and overwhelmed, he left the unit without authorization and spent roughly two months drinking heavily, before returning—hoping for a lawful investigation. He said he was told there could be investigators and a trial, yet claimed nothing actually happened, and after detention he was sent back out again.

During a second sortie near Umanske, he said he suffered severe injuries—both legs fractured—and found himself under intense drone activity and shelling, again including alleged cluster munitions. He described the moment his body simply gave out:
“I ran about 50 meters and couldn’t go on—turned out both legs were broken. More ‘birds’ came in, lots of UAVs, and they started searching for us and dropping munitions on us. The tree lines were hit with cluster munitions to flush us out.”

He claimed he crawled for hours toward friendly positions and was evacuated only the next day, then treated in Donetsk. When he tried to transfer to a hospital nearer home, he alleged pressure from a medical unit commander named Olga—threats of reassignment to assault units and accusations of drug use:
“And she threatened that one phone call and I’d be in the assault units. She said: either you lie here as a ‘300,’ or you go to the assaults with her call. And she accused me of using drugs.”

It is reported that he did not live to see any official inquiry completed: he was killed while carrying out a combat mission in the Pokrovsk direction.

Source: Telegram channel “Don’t Expect Good News.” https://t.me/ne_zhdi_novosti/4480