The invasion that would make Ukraine look like a side show: As Taiwan conducts a full-scale rehearsal for an assault by China, MARK ALMOND warns the possibility is all too real... and terrifying

 Russian soldiers who refuse to participate in Ukraine war 'are being held in torture pits'

• Contracted troops were told they could go on leave or resign after three months
• But those who refuse to fight are now being hauled off to detention centres
• Superiors allegedly send them to Bryanka in occupied Luhansk to be tortured
• Comes as Human Rights Watch has received detailed descriptions of torture and illegal detention of Ukrainian citizens in occupied southern Ukraine 
  
  
  

• Russian soldiers who refuse to fight on the front lines in Ukraine are allegedly being forced back into battle on threat of execution, or rounded up and held in 'torture pits', basements and garages in the Luhansk region.

  Contracted troops who signed up to go into battle were reportedly told they would be sent on three-month tours of duty, after which they could opt to take leave or resign altogether.

  But the father of one Russian soldier has claimed that when the contractors state their intention to leave or hand in resignation letters to their superiors, they are detained and shipped off to a makeshift detention centre in Bryanka in occupied Ukraine. 

  There they are either bullied back to rejoin the frontlines, or split up into small groups and thrown into cramped spaces where they endure horrendous conditions and various forms of torture.

• FULL ARTICLE AT: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11047139/Russian-soldiers-refuse-participate-Ukraine-war-held-torture-pits.html

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The invasion that would make Ukraine look like a side show: As Taiwan conducts a full-scale rehearsal for an assault by China, MARK ALMOND warns the possibility is all too real... and terrifying

• Residents in Taiwan took part in an air raid drill as military exercises took place
• China's president Xi has been increasingly aggressive in the South China Sea
• There are concerns China will have learned from Russia's invasion of Ukraine

• As the mournful wail of air-raid sirens rang out at 1.30pm yesterday, residents in towns and cities in Northern Taiwan retreated indoors. The streets rapidly cleared of people and cars.

  In the capital Taipei, shops and restaurants pulled down their shutters and police directed vehicles to the side of the road and ordered drivers and their passengers to seek shelter.

  The screech of fighter jets scrambling to repel the enemy filled the skies, while a ‘missile alert’ text was sent to hundreds of thousands of mobile phones, urging evacuation to a place of safety immediately.

  Terrifying, yes, but the nightmare scenario that unfolded was a necessary full-scale drill to prepare for the day — drawing closer by the hour, according to some — when Taiwan is subject to a surprise attack from mainland China.

• FULL ARTICLE AT: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11047689/Taiwan-conducts-scale-rehearsal-assault-China-MARK-ALMOND-warns-possibility-real.html