Russian soldier (21) openly testifies about how he executed Ukrainian citizen | War Ukraine and Russia

It was early March, shortly after the invasion, when Russian soldiers entered Andriivka. Frolkin and the three other men seen in the photos took part in the occupation. They would run off again a month later, after President Vladimir Putin ordered their withdrawal. They left a trail of death and destruction. And a stolen smartphone with images of them posing proudly with their weapons.

A journalist from ‘iStories’ went to Andriivka at the end of May and heard first-hand what had happened. How the Russians had stolen and looted, destroyed homes and killed at least thirteen inhabitants. She also managed to identify, through the metadata of the photos in question, the four Russian soldiers featured in them: Daniil Frolkin, Dmitrii Danilov, Ruslan Glotov and Ivan Shepelenko.

‘iStories’ contacted all four of them via social media. Frolkin and Danilov were willing to speak to the journalists. And Frolkin even testified openly about killing an innocent civilian.

The man in question was believed to be Ruslan Yaremchuk, a 47-year-old construction worker and father of four. He lived with his wife Oksana in a modest wooden house in the village. According to his daughter Yaroslava, it was probably his hobby that cost him his life: photography. “He recorded everything he saw,” she told iStories. “We assume that’s why they shot him. They probably thought he was recording and relaying the movements of the Russian troops.”

His neighbors recall how the Russian soldiers came to Yaremchuk’s house on March 12, when he was home alone. His body was later found nearby. Because at that time there was plenty of shooting and bombing and it was not possible to move the remains, he was buried on the spot in a garden. Over the next few days, residents heard the Russians brag about the murder of the man and two others on the same street. The soldier who did that loudest of all turned out to be Frolkin.

Initially, in the interview with ‘iStories’, he denied that he had killed anyone in Andriivka. He admitted that he had looted houses and shops with the other soldiers. He later confessed to the murder.

“I, soldier of the military unit 51460, Corporal Daniil Andreevich Frolkin, confess to all the crimes I committed in Andriivka: shooting civilians, stealing civilians, confiscating their phones and the fact that our commanders do not care about their soldiers fighting at the front. They don’t regard ordinary soldiers as human beings.”

Asked about the civilians he had shot, he said his commander ordered him to search the homes of three residents in March. “They had a lot of money. The lieutenant colonel who was with us took the money and left the rest of the stuff like documents and phones to us. Then he said, “Take them out.” That’s all. I went along and took out one of the residents.”

He says he did it out of revenge, because his victim passed on the positions of the Russian army. “He said he was a civilian and lived there. We replied that he had to tell the truth or else we would shoot him. He then confessed that he had been to Kiev two days earlier and had been asked to provide coordinates.”

Frolkin then took him outside. “He turned out to have bullet casings on him,” he continues. “I told him to walk forward. He walked forward. I told him, “On your knees.” And I just shot him in the head. After that I trembled for a long time.”

After the murder, his conscience could not handle any more deaths, he said. He was then ordered to pick up the wounded in a military vehicle and also to bring broken material to a repair workshop. He now claims he killed one and saved 85 others.

Frolkin’s confession also provides a behind-the-scenes look at the Russian frontline. He said, for example, that he was sent to Belarus on January 11 for exercises, without any specific training, and that he only learned the night before the invasion that he was going to Ukraine to fight the “Nazis”. “We were not given a choice. Our commander threatened to shoot us if we didn’t,” he says. “We had no idea who to fight and why.”

Soldiers returning from a mission are immediately sent back to the front. However, according to Frolkin, many Russian soldiers no longer want to fight.

He himself wants to get out of the army and the war, which he now calls “pointless” and which “better never started”. He submitted an application at the end of July, but it does not appear that it will be approved. His future probably won’t look too good in Russia after his confession either.