A Russian soldier was arrested in Ukraine Monday after hiding for six months in a region that has been mercilessly shelled by Moscow’s forces, police said.
According to a press release from the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kharkiv, members of a special purpose police battalion were patrolling the village of Kupiansk-Vuzloviy when they came across the alleged enemy combatant.
Police said that the 42-year-old resident of the Moscow region told them that he had been hiding in abandoned buildings in the Kupiansk area near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
“During the check, it turned out that he is a serviceman of the 27th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Russian Federation,” police revealed.
The unnamed serviceman allegedly told investigators that he had been secretly living in the village since Kyiv’s forces liberated the region in September.
The soldier, who was dressed in civilian clothing at the time of his arrest, was taken to the local police department for questioning about the circumstances of his stay in Ukraine.
Kupiansk is home to a key railway hub. In recent weeks, it has been the site of intense fighting, raising the specter of a second Russian occupation.
About 2,500 residents are remaining in Kupiansk despite relentless attacks from Russian positions, now less than 5 miles away, reported CNN.
Last week, Ukrainian authorities ordered a mandatory evacuation of the most vulnerable residents, including children and people with disabilities, citing constant artillery attacks that make normal life in the area impossible.
Some local residents, however, have refused to leave their homes behind and flee.
On Tuesday, yet another round of shelling killed a woman driving a car in the town of Vovchansk and damaged several buildings, according to local authorities.
“Enemy forces are relentlessly trying to attack the positions of our forces,” Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Ukrainian regional military administration, said during a television broadcast. “That’s why we announced mandatory evacuations.”