Russian Soldiers Fled The Front Lines And Tried To Reach Kyiv
- 28.10.2026, 12:10
The trip ended unexpectedly.
The SBU’s counterintelligence unit thwarted an attempt by two Russian soldiers to hide in the Ukrainian capital after deserting the front lines. The soldiers changed into civilian clothes and tried to reach Kyiv by hitchhiking.
According to SBU, both detainees served in the 291st Motorized Rifle Regiment of the Russian Federation’s Southern Military District. After being sent to storm Ukrainian positions in the Kramatorsk area, they fled to the “gray zone,” where they found civilian clothing in an abandoned house. They buried their Russian uniforms and service weapons and then set off on foot toward the nearest district center.
Along the way, a driver agreed to give them a ride to Dnipro, from where they planned to travel to Kyiv, where one of them has relatives.
However, they were detained at a checkpoint at the entrance to the Dnipropetrovsk region. A Russian military ID tag was found around one of the men’s necks.
The investigation established that one of the detainees is a resident of the occupied city of Dolzhansk in the Luhansk region, with two prior convictions for murder. He has been fighting against Ukraine since 2016, and after the start of the full-scale invasion, he participated in battles near Bakhmut as an assistant gunner for an anti-tank missile system.
His accomplice is a Russian citizen who signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense of the aggressor country while serving a sentence for murder.
SBU investigators informed the militant from the Luhansk region that he is suspected of violating two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- Parts 1 and 2 of Article 111 (treason during martial law);
- Part 7 of Article 111-1 (collaboration).
The investigation is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the crime; he is being held in custody without the right to bail and faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property. His accomplice, a Russian citizen, is currently being held as a prisoner of war.