The former correspondent of “First Channel” is kept in the basement of “LPR”

Former Channel One correspondent Ilya Andreev, who allegedly resigned after a mission to the occupied territories of Ukraine due to his reluctance to do propaganda stories, and then, due to lack of work, signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense, the Russian military keeps in the basement for so-called conscientious objectors in Zaytsevo, Luhansk region (in Russian terminology – “LPR”). This was reported by the publication “Astra”. Earlier, Novaya Gazeta Evropa wrote that Andreev was kept in a pit for punished servicemen and tied to a tree. On the morning of November 22, Andreev himself informed his wife that he was being taken to Zaitsevo.

42-year-old Ilya Andreev is a former correspondent of Channel One. In April 2022, he resigned after a business trip near Chernihiv. He did not publicly announce the reasons for his decision, however, as “Novaya gazeta Evropa” previously wrote, he justified it by not wanting to participate in propaganda. Maksym Fyodorov, an acquaintance of Andeev, wrote that the reporter was “released with a black label” from the First Channel, and he could not find a job. The fact that Andreev had financial difficulties also follows from the correspondence published by journalist Roman Super. According to Andreev’s Telegram channel, he worked as a courier for some time. His wife told “Astra” that the journalist signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense on September 1, 2023, as he was “promised that he would serve in Moscow.” However, Andreev was immediately sent to the war in Ukraine.

As Astra and Novaya Gazeta Evropa write, on November 8, Andreev wrote a report asking him to be granted a leave of absence in order to obtain documents. The leave was approved in the military unit in Naro-Fominsk, where he is stationed, but the command in the Luhansk region refused it. and sent the former journalist of the First Channel to the punishment pit. Andreev’s wife, Yana, came to the Luhansk region for her husband, but when she demanded to leave, he was detained and sent to the commandant’s office, and from there to Zaytsevo. According to “Astra”, about 15 Russian servicemen are now kept in the basement in this settlement. Last year, those who refused to go to the front line were detained there.

There are no comments from the Russian Ministry of Defense about the situation with Andreev. The Russian military did not comment on the numerous reports of basements in which, contrary to the law, they contain “recusants” or somehow penalized soldiers.