Russian captured UAV operator: They gave me only armour and helmet, told me to find assault rifle on spot
Roman Zhuravlev, a private in the Russian army, was captured near the village of Lyptsi when he was fetching water at 6am. It took only a week from the moment his unit arrived at the Kharkiv frontline to his capture.
Zhuravlev went to the war from prison, hoping to be wounded and become free. He also recounts how he saw a company of former Russian prisoners go on an assault - none of them came back. They were given only a bulletproof vest and a helmet - the rest, they said, you had to find yourself. He recounts how they went hungry - only two tins of canned food were given to three soldiers for three days.
Please introduce yourself, what is your name?
Roman Sergeevich Zhuravlev.
What is your position and rank in the war?
My rank was private. My position was a UAV operator.
Where and under what circumstances were you captured?
On the front line, the so-called "Mustache". At 6 am I went to get water. I walked through the forest and came across the Ukrainian army. They opened fire on me. I was shot in the head. Then I started shouting that I was unarmed. And I surrendered.
How did it happen that you were so close to the front line?
We had what looked like Russian troops standing next to us. 20 or 30 metres away. I found out later.
You were captured near the village of Lyptsi. How long did you stay here, in the Russian group advancing on Kharkiv?
A week.
A week? How long have you been at war? When did you join the army?
I signed the contract on 11 April.
2024?
2024. Then, on 15 April, they began to gather us. On 17 April, they took us to the shooting range, where they taught us to shoot, and we were trained for 2 weeks. On 10 or 11 May, we were brought to the village of Pylne.
This is already in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine...
On the sixth day, I was wounded. They took me to the hospital. I was in the hospital for a month. Then I was declared temporarily unfit. I was sent on leave for 45 days. And after the leave, on 3 August, I had to report to the unit and undergo a military check-up. Because in my discharge note it was written that I had to undergo a military fitness test after my leave. In the unit, I was told that we were all being transferred to the 11th Regiment. And that there you will show your documents and go to be treated. Because my leg was not treated, nor was anything else. And I had to pass the military medical examination. And they took me here to the frontline.
They cheated, didn't they? It's a common practice, isn't it? You talk about it so calmly...
Well, as I've learnt it is working out, yeah.
Were you training to be a UAV operator? You were only drafted in April.
No, it's just a commanding position. In fact, I've never even held it in my hands. Neither the remote control nor the UAV.
So were you actually used as what?
With weapons, infantry.
An infantryman?
Yes.
What was the task of your group when it came to the village of Lyptsi?
There was a plot, a square, about 300 by 300 metres, with dugouts. In short, we had to sit there and guard it. In case of a breakthrough or something. So that no one would break through.
What was the size of your unit, your company?
When I was brought there, there were less than 15 people there. Although, when they took me away, they said there were 38. We were the only ones sitting on these "mustaches", as they call them. Then, after a few days, the assault troops started coming in. They started storming, and almost all of them were defeated at once.
Have you seen it?
Well, we heard it, and the wounded passed through.
And how did the Russian attack go, can you tell us what you saw from your position?
I couldn't see, our dugouts were far away.
So you saw the assault company leave?
Yes, and it never came back.
What regiment is this from?
These are the towers, former prisoners from the 11th Regiment.
The 11th Regiment?
Well, they used to be in the 9th, they were supposed to be transferred to the 11th.
What do they even say about losses? What kind of losses were there near Lyptsi?
There is no equipment, no weapons. They send people to die. They just give you an assault rifle. I was sent in armour and a helmet. They said you would find an assault rifle there.
It's amazing. I've only read such things in books about the Great Patriotic War, about a united front, and finding weapons. What, seriously? Are you not joking? Well, you have some kind of weapon assigned to you in your military ID card.
No. They took my military ID card back in April to add a weapon, and I haven't seen it since.
It's hard to believe. Find a machine gun in a ditch and they gave one magazine. Are you serious now? You don't want to do it on purpose?
No. There was a single horn about a metre and a half away from the machine gun, and that was all. A meaningless section. It was a one-way road. We were even given food for two days - two cans of stew for three of us. One can of stew, one can of fish. For two, for three. Usually for a day, but it never worked out for a day. For two or three days.
Did you starve there, then?
Yes. We took water from some stream. It was so muddy, with all sorts of stuff, with wood and leaves.
What kind of education do you have?
Secondary specialised education.
What did you do for a living?
Until my licence was revoked, I worked mainly as a driver. And then as an assembler. I'm a trained cook. For the last two or three years, I've been renovating apartments.
Why were you deprived of your rights?
For drunken driving.
Are you a convicted felon?
Yes.
How did you get to the war, to the army?
The Ministry of Defence came and signed the contract.
Did you come from prison?
Yes.
And how did you get recruited there? Did anyone offer you a job, explain it to you? How did it happen? Why did you decide to do this while in prison?
For repeated driving without a licence. They gave me a three-year sentence.
A settlement? So you were not in prison?
The settlement there is the same. Everyone is in cells. And they started to give conditions there. No one was released on parole. They just didn't let them out.
How long did you serve?
Almost two years.
You have only a year left...
It was unbearable to sit there. When I was in prison, I heard from people who were with SMO and are still in prison that they used to be written off because of their wounds. I thought I would get wounded and be discharged. But in the end, they didn't even let me pass the military medical commission again.
Are there many of them in prison? Veterans of SMO? Heroes of Russia?
Who escaped. A lot of them.
Have you ever thought that it might be better to stay alive than to risk being not only injured but also killed?
If they turned back the clock, I wouldn't have signed it.
I see. You're definitely not signing anything now.
I don't know what I was thinking about.
And who are your parents? Did no one in your family communicate with you, talk to you? Tell us about your family.
I have two brothers.
Where are the brothers now?
Everyone has their own families.
Where do they live now?
In Arkhangelsk.
Both?
Yes.
What are your relatives abroad?
A brother cousin, an aunt and uncle, and a sister cousin.
Where do all these relatives live?
Washington State.
So, most of your family emigrated and now lives in the US?
They moved there back in 1998-1999.
So they are already US citizens?
Yes. Maybe it's better to work in America instead of drinking and driving in Russia right now.
Would you like to be excanged?
Yes.
Where would you rather go back to: Russia or America?
To America.
Will you be accepted there? Will your brother accept you?
I don't have any documents. My brother will accept me. I don't understand the point of this war at all. I wanted not to return, to get to my brother.
