A human-rights group working with a Russian soldier said he was kidnapped by special-ops agents and held for eight hours after publishing a detailed account of the Ukraine war.
Filatyev left Moscow last week and is currently in Europe.
In a Tuesday livestream with Vladimir Osechkin, the head of the Gulagu.net rights group, Filatyev said that he was woken up by eight men standing around his bed.
Filatyev said that they just gave him orders to get up. I was in a hotel and my visitors were able to get into my room.
He said the men handcuffed him, put him in a white Land Cruiser, and drove for an hour to a military base.
I kept thinking, this is it. He told Oschekin that he dodged the bullet in Ukraine.
Filatyev said he was tied to a chair and waiting for up to six hours. He said that he was questioned for 8 hours.
Filatyev said that the men took his phone and read through his social media accounts. He said that they accused him of being an intelligence officer and selling secrets to the Americans.
Filatyev said that they made it clear that they were not interested in his views on war or politics.
They were thought to be a department for fighting extremists. There were many theories about me being a terrorist. He said that he wasn't allowed a lawyer or phone because of that.
He said that the interpreter became exhausted after the interrogation.
Filatyev said he was released about 16 hours after being taken into custody.
It's not clear who the men were. Filatyev said they were not in uniform, had no ID and presented him with no explanation.
Filatyev was wounded and evacuated to Moscow in July after he spent months on the frontlines.
In his memoir, Filatyev referred to Russia's pro-war symbol.
The most detailed account of a Russian soldier fighting in Ukraine so far has been published by him.
Chaos within the Russian army in Ukraine was mostly described as scared commanders, unmotivated soldiers, and disdain for Putin.
He was able to get out of Moscow with the help of the internet.
Filatyev didn't say who the agents worked for. Osechkin accused Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service of kidnapping Filatyev.
He asked why he was lying in a Monday statement. "Why do you think that a modest and brave paratrooper who served Russia and Russians for a long time is a terrorist and that you are trying to set him up for a wrongful imprisonment?"
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service and Federal Security Service did not reply immediately.
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