Davin News Server

On 11/10/2024 7:13 PM, Rod Speed wrote:
> Putin's populism is promising to not get conscripts involved in the
> invasion of the Ukraine.

Are you smoking dope?

https://ge.usembassy.gov/russia-uses-conscript-soldiers-for-war-in-ukraine/

In its brutal war against Ukraine , Russia relies on conscript soldiers 
who are often unaware of their assignments and inadequately trained for 
combat, independent media reports indicate. Vladimir Putin insisted on 
several occasions that only professional soldiers and officers were 
involved in Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine and that 
conscripts would not be used. However, Russia’s defense ministry 
acknowledged on March 9 that it used conscript soldiers in Ukraine  and 
that some were captured by Ukrainian forces.

All men in Russia between 18 and 27 years of age are required to serve 
in the military, but many obtain deferments to avoid conscription. “What 
kind of trust could there be if Putin says one day that conscripts will 
not be sent there … and then the Defense Ministry recognizes that they 
were there?” Alexei Tabalov, a lawyer who advises conscripts, told the 
Associated Press. Russia’s military includes 1 million troops , 400,000 
of which are contract soldiers. Another 134,000 individuals were drafted 
into the military on March 31.

Soldiers, families in the dark
Some relatives of conscript soldiers said they do not know the 
whereabouts of soldiers  fighting in Ukraine, according to Svetlana 
Golub, head of the Soldiers’ Mothers Committee, an advocacy group for 
soldiers’ rights in Russia. “The families are being completely left in 
the dark,” she told The Guardian. “I know the situation is really bad 
when the families tell me they can’t reach the soldiers any more.”

A Russian parliamentarian said one group of 100 conscripts was forced to 
sign contracts for military service and then sent to Ukraine into 
combat, according to the AP. Only four of them survived. The conscripts 
said commanders told them they were being sent for military training 
exercises only to discover they were going to combat zones inside Ukraine.

Forced conscription in Russia-controlled Ukraine
The Kremlin also forcibly drafts conscripts from parts of Ukraine that 
it controls or occupies from Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine.

In the areas of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine that are under the Russian 
government’s control, an estimated 135 conscripts sent to fight in 
Mariupol put down their weapons in protest, according to Reuters. Their 
commanders put the soldiers in a basement as punishment and threatened them.

One student  in Donbas was sent by the Russian military to Mariupol with 
no training and older rifles compared with those given to professional 
soldiers. His unit experienced heavy combat. Members of the unit drank 
water with dead frogs in it.

“There were lots of casualties,” he said. “I hate the war. I don’t want 
it, curse it. Why are they sending me into a slaughterhouse?”

Residents of Crimea have been forced to serve in the Russian military 
for the past eight years , ever since Russia occupied the region. 
Residents are threatened with prosecution if they fail to do so. 
Crimeans fighting for the Russian military against Ukraine were 
identified after being taken as prisoners of war.

Looking elsewhere for recruits
The Kremlin also is looking to former Soviet countries and allies such 
as Syria for new recruits to fight a war that is lasting much longer 
than Putin had anticipated. Russia’s government is so desperate for 
troops it is offering expedited citizenship to immigrants as another 
tool. Kyrgyz natives  living in Russia are being paid to fight the 
Kremlin’s war against Ukraine. Sardarbek Mamatillaev, a native of 
Kyrgyzstan, received Russian citizenship recently and was told to report 
for military duty. An estimated 30,000 Kyrgyz men who received Russian 
citizenship are eligible for conscription. “I was told I must report to 
the military office, otherwise my Russian citizenship could be 
canceled,” Mamatillaev told Cabar.asia.

Men who are eligible for military service in Russia must serve in the 
military even if they served in their native countries.

Putin also is relying on his ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 
Syria is recruiting troops  from its military to fight with Russian 
soldiers in Ukraine. The recruits are promised $3,000 per month, which 
is substantially higher than their typical salary.