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Multiple South Ossetian servicemen, deployed to fight in Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine, have unexpectedly shown up back in Tskhinvali Region, reportedly after refusing to fight.

Footage disseminated by S. Ossetian Telegram channels on March 30 shows about a dozen troops — apparently traveling on foot — at the North Ossetian/Russian side of the Roki Tunnel, the sole crossing point into the occupied region.

Blogger Alik Puhati, a South Ossetian native, wrote on Twitter that about 300 soldiers of Russia’s 4th military base in the occupied region had returned “of their own free will.”

Most of the troops were ethnic Ossetians, according to the blogger.

“They thought they had been left for dead during a special operation in Ukraine,” Puhati reported. “They hitchhiked home.”

The development came after the Strategic Communications Directorate of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported on March 30 that almost all personnel of a battalion tactical group — two motorized infantry companies — from Russia’s 4th military base had refused to participate in the war.