Families of Russian conscripts protest and demand that the Russian government return their family members. After being recruited to fight on the front lines of the Ukrainian war for more than a year, the evacuation organization said that in the past three months, there had been an 89 percent increase in the number of Russian soldiers requesting evacuation.
Last week, families of Russian soldiers who were conscripted to fight in Ukraine’s war called on President Vladimir Putin to return their family members. After their loved ones were conscripted on the Ukrainian front lines for more than a year,
The families formed a group called Bute Domoy (meaning “the way home”) and accused Russian commanders of recruiting their family members to fight. They opposed “legal slavery” in this regard. The appeal was made via video in Telegram. Stop recruiting troops to reinforce the Ukrainian battlefield.
About 300 reservists have been recruited to bolster Russia’s military presence in Ukraine “as part” of Putin’s planned recruitment drive, which he announced in September 2022.
Putin announced the end of new military conscription a month later. But no official order was issued in writing. Moreover, observers and activists say the Russian military continues to recruit Russian men to fight in the war.
A statement and petition submitted by Bout Domoy in late November criticized what they described as Russians’ “endless forced conscription” and accused the Russian government of neglecting soldiers and their families.
On December 7, a group of wives and mothers of Russian conscript soldiers called on Putin to limit the length of service in the war to one year.
The Bot Domoy group stated that they “were confident that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu would fulfill his promise to use mercenaries instead of conscripts by the end of 2023… but we were wrong.”
Bot Domoy released the video a week before the TV show “Direct Line” showed a phone clip of Putin in which Russians asked him for help in solving everyday problems. Putin promised to take all demands into account in the upcoming Direct Line program. Who will remember this promise
In November, groups of mothers and wives of conscripted Russian soldiers held anti-conscription protests in Russian cities, including Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The authorities refused to allow the organizers to organize a protest march.
On December 7, Maria Andreeva, a member of the Bot Domoy group, gave an interview to independent Russian media outlet Mozhem Oblyasnit, in which she said that high-ranking military officials had threatened their husbands that they would have to confront her. “Difficult conditions” during military service in response to their activities in the Put’ Domoi group.
Relief organizations reported there was an 89 percent increase in the number of Russian soldiers seeking help from deserting soldiers.
Idyte Lesom Project, an organization that helps Russians escape from the army fighting in Ukraine. It was revealed on December 5 that the number of requests from Russian soldiers to help them desert the army had almost doubled in recent months. Compared to the previous three months
Edit Lesum said that the number of Russian soldiers requesting assistance in deserting the army rose to 577 cases between September and November compared to June and August, and there are 305 cases, which is an increase from the previous rate of 89%.
Since April, lawyers and volunteers from Edity Lessom have provided advice to more than 1,000 Russian soldiers who want to desert the army. The month that witnessed the largest number of people seeking help was October with 218 cases, and the lowest was in June with 54 cases.
Sergei Krivenko, director of the human rights organization “Grazdanin, Armia, Bravo” (translated “Citizens, Army, Rights”), said that it has been a year since the recruitment of personnel to strengthen the army in the Ukraine war began. People have understood that the dream of returning home after serving for a while Of time it was just an illusion. They saw that there was no rotation of regular staff. Even seriously wounded soldiers were returned to the front line after leaving the hospital.
Gregory Swerdlin, head of the Edit Lessom group, said that most of the soldiers chose to desert the army after being injured and were treated in hospitals in Russia.
There was the case of Pavel, a soldier who served in Ukraine and who deserted the army after being seriously wounded twice. He said he should be able to sue for compensation for the nerve injury he suffered in his leg. He was supposed to be able to see a therapist because he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but he was not compensated for his medical treatment and was sent back to the front lines after he recovered.
Krivenko says it is very difficult to escape from soldiers while they are on the battlefield. There is a very high chance of getting caught. There is a patrol force to check people deserting the army. They were often captured and detained in battlefield prisons before being released and returned to the front lines. These types of desertion cases rarely go to court.
Swerdlin said Edit Lysum volunteers helped many soldiers escape the front lines. But very few cases of escape from the front line are acknowledged. This is partly because soldiers on the front lines have little contact with the outside world and sometimes lack identity documents. Because their commanders often confiscate their Russian passports and identity documents when soldiers ask for leave or when they are hospitalized. Although by law the commander has no right to do this.
Although desertion was one of the few ways Russian soldiers successfully escaped the army, Swerdlin said those who wish to desert the army should not travel abroad alone without help from an organization. There is a possibility that they will be declared wanted after two days. They are often arrested at national border checkpoints
Russian soldiers often do not have international passports. Because Putin changed the law to require that these passports be confiscated within 5 days after the person receives a summons for conscription. At the same time, passports can be used within Russia to travel to neighboring countries such as Kazakhstan. But it is not possible to travel to safer countries without an international passport.
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