12 National guards who were dismissed for refusing to go to war in Ukraine are appealing the decision in an attempt to get reinstated, reported Telegram channel SOTA.The guardsmen, who were fired for failing to carry out orders to cross the Ukrainian border at the start of the war, are appealing their dismissal, said the lawyer representing the guards, Mikhail Benyash. Captain Farid Chitav, and 11 of his subordinates in Rosgvardiya (National Guard), were ordered over the border of Ukraine on Feb.

25 but refused on the grounds that they were “illegal,” according to human rights lawyer Pavel Chikhov. The division of Russia’s National Guard from Krasnodar had been stationed in annexed Crimea since Feb.

6.

conducting annual exercises when the orders came.

But the division, led by Chitav, said that their duties were strictly limited to Russian territory, and given that none of the members had their passports, crossing into Ukraine would constitute a violation of the law. "None of them was informed about a business trip to the territory of Ukraine to participate in a special military operation nor about the tasks and conditions of this operation, and as a result, they did not give consent to it,” Chikhov said in a telegram post.The soldiers were sent back to Krasnodar, where they were subject to an investigation before being dismissed from service.

According to Benyash, the guards are appealing for reinstatement due to unfair dismissal, and will then decide whether they wish to continue working for the National Guard. According to Meduza, at least 6 members of Russia’s National Guard have already died fighting in Ukraine, with NATO estimates of at least 7,000 Russian soldiers killed in fighting so far.