Raids On Conscripts Have Begun In Moscow

Those who are detained are sent to the army within a day or two.

In Moscow, law enforcement agencies have stepped up raids to “round up” young men of draft age with the aim of sending them to the military. According to the human rights project “Go Away”, such raids are taking place in the metro, at Multifunctional Centers (MFCs), or simply on the streets of the capital.

Between October 13 and 21 alone, six such reports were received. For example, on October 13, two young men, one of whom, according to his relatives, had a medical exemption due to a metal plate in his leg, were seized near a metro station and taken to the Unified Conscription Center (UCC) and the assembly point on Ugreshskaya Street for “assignment to military service.” Another draftee, a student at a Moscow university born in 2002, was detained at the door of his apartment. Security forces took him to Ugreshskaya.

According to relatives, officials at the assembly point said they “didn’t care,” and that they wouldn’t have time to bring a certificate from the university because the young man would already be sent to the military. There was no contact with any of the three conscripts. There are also reports of active police checks at metro stations. Young people are being stopped, their passports checked, and they are being required to unlock their phones and log in to “Gosuslugi.”

This information is confirmed by Timofey Vaskin, head of the project’s legal department. According to him, the crackdowns on conscripts are tied to the dates for deployment to the military, which were scheduled for mid-October. Those detained are taken to Ugreshskaya, and from there “in one or two days to the army—they won’t be allowed to go home.”

Men of draft age are also being detained in Moscow. According to “Idite Lesom,” last week at the “Tekstilshchiki” station, police stopped a 51-year-old man to check his documents. They “checked his passport on a tablet,” after which they released the Moscow resident. According to him, security forces took away another man of the same age.

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