Ivan is transported to Ukraine and tasked with training the newly mobilized troops, many of whom have no combat experience. Ivan and his platoon prepare for their assault on “the Boot,” a farmland heavily fortified by Ukrainian troops.


At the same time, promilitary propaganda heats up in Russia. Anna is pressured to delete a social media post and moves to be with her family. She struggles to find supplies for Ivan, and she finds a group that helps service members escape.






In “The Deserter,” the journalist Sarah A. Topol reports the story of Ivan, a deserter who served as a captain in the Russian Army, fought in Ukraine and then ultimately fled the war and his country with his wife, Anna. (Ivan and Anna are pseudonyms used for their protection.)


Topol spoke to 18 deserters while reporting in eight countries across four continents over the last year and a half; their experiences helped inform a vivid picture of the Russian war operation and its corruption, chaos and brutality.


This audio version is in five parts and is narrated by Liev Schreiber.