LONDON, July 8 (R) – Danila Davydov said he left Russia within weeks after the Kremlin sent troops to Ukraine, fearing he would have to fight in a war he does not support.
The 22-year-old digital artist, who had lived in St. Petersburg, said that given the length of the conflict, he was concerned that Russia might put pressure on young people like him to do military service.
“I didn’t want to go to war or go to prison, so I decided to go,” Davydov told R from Kazakhstan, where he said he is currently working.
w
R
It is among what some lawyers and human rights defenders say that since the conflict with Ukraine began in late February, a growing number of young Russian men are trying to avoid the country’s compulsory military service, highlighting the ambivalence in Russian society towards the conflict.
Some young men are leaving the country, while others are seeking advice on obtaining special permits or alternative routes, or simply ignoring their subpoenas in hopes authorities won’t pursue them, according to R interviews with seven men currently attempting military service to avoid as well as five lawyers and lawyers.
And that’s despite the risk of fines or up to two years in prison in a country where military service is compulsory for young men aged 18 to 27. One man told R the refusal to fight has created tensions with family members who believe military service is a young man’s duty.
Davydov said he was able to opt out of the military service register and leave the country because he had a job offer abroad. He wants to return home one day, he said, but regrets that may not be the case any time soon: “I love Russia and miss it very much.”
The Kremlin referred questions to the Defense Ministry, which did not respond to a request for comment on how widespread draft evasion is and whether it affects the functioning of Russia’s armed forces. “Serving in the army and navy is the honorable duty of a Russian citizen, which will bring significant benefits in the future,” the ministry’s website reads.
Moscow says it is conducting a special military operation and it is going as planned. Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed those fighting for Russia as “heroes” who are rescuing Russian speakers from persecution and foiling what he calls the Western plan to destroy Russia. In March, he labeled Russians whose thoughts aligned more closely with the West than with Russia as “traitors.” Continue reading
On February 24, Russia sent thousands of troops into Ukraine, launching Europe’s largest ground invasion since World War II. With Russian troops withdrawing from near Kyiv, the war has slowed into a grueling artillery battle with Moscow focused on capturing territory in eastern Ukraine.
Putin is banking on a professional army, which the West says suffered significant casualties in the war. If the army cannot recruit enough conscripts, Putin would have a choice to use conscripts, mobilize Russian society, or scale back his ambitions.
Although Putin has repeatedly said publicly that conscripts should not fight in the Ukraine conflict, the Defense Ministry said in early March some had already done so. Last month, a military prosecutor told the upper house of parliament that about 600 conscripts had been drawn into the conflict and about a dozen officers had been disciplined as a result. Continue reading
Ukraine has declared martial law: men between the ages of 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave the country. Kyiv says it will fight to the end what it calls unprovoked imperial-style land grabs.
“A lot of people are scared”
Ever since Peter the Great transformed Russia into a major European power, its rulers have often relied on conscription as part of Russia’s vast military, one of the largest armed forces in the world. Men of military age must serve one year as a conscript. Russia calls around 260,000 annually in a biennial draft. According to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Russia’s combined armed forces number about 900,000 men. Continue reading
Avoiding conscription is a well-established practice, including through legitimate avenues such as deferring duty through college and applying for medical exemptions. However, more young men have sought help in recent months, according to four lawyers and legal defense groups who offer advice and legal assistance to such young men. According to two of them, this came mainly from people in big cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg.
A group called Release, which offers free legal advice, is led by Dmitry Lutsenko, a Russian now living in Cyprus. He said members of a public Telegram group for those seeking advice on how to avoid conscription, which the group runs, have grown from about 200 before the conflict to more than 1,000 people.
Another rights group called Citizen. Army. Law focuses on advising people seeking alternative types of military service, which means working in a government organization like a hospital instead of the military. The group said the number of people asking about alternative services has increased 10-fold this year to more than 400, compared with about 40 in the same period last year. “A lot of people are afraid. They don’t want to join an army that is fighting,” said Sergei Krivenko, who heads the organization.
Attorney Denis Koksharov, chairman of the Prizyvnik Lawyers’ Association, said that at the beginning of the conflict he saw an increase of about 50% in the number of people seeking advice on avoiding military service, without giving figures. He added that the number of requests has since decreased and the organization has recently seen an increase in young men wanting to volunteer to fight.
Koksharov attributed the turnover to people’s habituation to the current situation and an increase in people “showing patriotism.”
HOMESICK
Fyodor Strelin, a 27-year-old from St. Petersburg, said he protested the war immediately after the invasion but decided to leave Russia at the end of February.
Strelin, who is now in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, said he previously avoided the draft after securing a dispensation last year for being short-sighted, but chose to leave Russia over concerns about widespread mobilization . “I miss my home and right now I feel like I’ve lost my place in life,” he said.
Some young men who have been called up for military service are ignoring the call in hopes that authorities elsewhere will get enough supplies, said six of the young men, lawyers and barristers, who R spoke to.
Kirill, a 26-year-old from southern Russia who works in the tech industry, said he received a draft summons in April, followed by a phone call in May asking him to go for a medical, but did not replied because he did not support Russia’s operation in Ukraine.
That has created tensions with some family and friends who support the war and believe everyone should do their part, said Kirill, who asked that his last name not be used. “People in Ukraine are like brothers. I know many people in the country and I cannot support these actions,” he added.
In June, police visited his home while he was away and asked his mother why he was avoiding military service, Kirill said. R could not confirm Kirill’s report. R tried to reach the press office of the Russian Interior Ministry. The person who answered the phone gave a different number, which went unanswered on multiple attempts. R also sent an email but received an automated reply saying it was undeliverable.
WAR AND PEACE
Kyiv and Western allies estimate that Russia lost at least as many men as the 15,000 Soviets killed in the 1979-1989 Soviet-Afghan War. Moscow has not updated its official casualty figure since late March, when it said 1,351 Russian soldiers have been killed and thousands more injured since the start of the military campaign in Ukraine.
There are signs that Russia is looking for more men to fight with. In May, Putin signed a law that removed the age limit of 40 for people wanting to join the Russian military. Lawmakers at the time said the change was intended to attract experienced people with specializations in areas such as advanced military equipment and engineering.
A Russian man in his 30s, who asked not to be identified, told R he had been summoned by telephone to report to a military office on the pretext of clarifying some personal details. There he was questioned by an unidentified man in military fatigues about his previous military service and offered him 300,000 rubles ($5,000) a month if he signed up to fight in Ukraine, he said.
R could not independently verify his account.
The man said he declined the offer because he was not a career soldier and had never fired a shot since leaving service.
“What use is 300,000 rubles to a dead man?” he said.
w
R
Edited by Cassell Bryan-Low
Our standards: The Thomson R Trust Principles.