Since last autumn, several thousand men have been mobilized illegally to take part in the war in Ukraine, the Russian authorities admit. Over 9,000 have been brought back.
– Over 9,000 citizens who were illegally mobilized have been brought home, including people who for health reasons should not have been mobilized under any circumstances, stated government attorney Igor Krasnov in a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.
Critical observers assume that far more have been recruited illegally following Putin’s mobilization order in September – and that many have probably never returned. In the first weeks after the mobilization began, chaotic conditions were reported at many regional recruitment centres. A total of 300,000 men from all over Russia were called up for service at the front.
Looking back, Krasnov also admits that the military structures in the country have “many serious problems”.
On Tuesday, a video message to Putin from the mothers and spouses of mobilized Russians was shared on social media. The women from the Primorye region in the far east of Russia complain that their men do not have enough equipment, medicine and hygiene items.
