"They search hostels, subways and cafes": How the police "hunt" recruits in Russia
The recruitment process in Russia attracts special attention, because it is taking place against the background of the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Human rights activists and lawyers talk about massive violations of human rights: recruits are "hunted" with the help of the police, using criminal investigation methods. There are no guarantees that immediately after the recruitment they will not be sent to fight with Ukraine.
BBC correspondent Elizaveta Focht says that the current recruitment campaign in the Russian Federation has surpassed previous ones in terms of the scope of raids and the number of violations.
On December 13, the intercom rang in the apartment of Ilya Raskazova, a resident of Dzerzhinsky near Moscow. The time was 8:30 in the morning, the guests were not expected so early. It turned out that an official from the local Military Commissariat and the police came to the interview with Raskazov.
21-year-old Rasskazov worked as a waiter. He had recently dropped out of a local college and was working part-time while looking for a new place to study. He was registered in the military for two years, but was never called up.
Neither the officer of the Military Commissariat nor the policemen introduced themselves and did not show identification, but instead took Raskaz's passport.
Now Ilja Raskazov is at the gathering place of the recruits. There is almost no contact with relatives.
"They took away his cell phone and let him make one or two calls a day - usually no longer than a minute. And sometimes they don't make it at all," says Katerina Raskazova.
"Once a person becomes a military officer, he can no longer be released"
What happened to Ilya Raskazov is called "all in one day". This is one of the most serious and widespread violations of the law during the current recruitment campaign, according to Russian lawyers and human rights defenders in an interview with the BBC.
"Once someone becomes a military officer, he can no longer resign. There is no such reason in the law - dismissal from service due to an illegal call. You have to go to court. It takes up to six months, and by that time the service is over. That's what they use - mostly they push people into the army," says the director of the human rights group "Citizen. Army. Law" Sergej Krivenko.
"When a person finds himself in the meeting place, the protection mechanisms are already working with a loud screech or not working at all," agrees Oksana Paramonova, head of the human rights organization "Soldier's Mothers of St. Petersburg".
Another problem is related to the fact that it is difficult to perform an adequate medical examination of a military conscript in one day: theoretically, he should pass the tests and receive the results, and in case of doubt the Military Committee should perform additional examinations. But now it is almost impossible.
"Hunting for recruits"
At the beginning of the autumn campaign, the media and social networks began to write about mass hunts for Russian recruits. In December, several students of the Financial University in Moscow were forcibly taken from the student dormitory to the Military Commissariat. Recruits are sought in hostels, subways and coffee shops.
The very practice of such recruitment is not new for Russia, says Paramonova from the "Committee of Military Mothers of St. Petersburg": their peak was in 2008-2012. Then, by 2019, this type of forced recruitment was reduced, but in 2021, their numbers began to rise again.
"Previously, the "hunt" for recruits was mostly an isolated case. Now, judging by many reports, the situation is urgent, the plans are very demanding, many military commissars cannot implement them: either the recruits are hiding, or many have left. That's why they are again started to hunt them," says Krivenko.
The raids during this recruitment campaign have one important characteristic - the police are massively involved in the "hunt" for recruits, say human rights defenders.
"Police officers have an arsenal of tools provided by the state to search for criminals. This includes connecting to phones, charging, requests for surveillance cameras. And they use all of this to track recruits. This has never happened before," explains Krivenko.
The police are really actively using criminal prosecution methods to "hunt" for recruits, say human rights defenders and list numerous violations:
"They use search and operational methods, they come in civilian clothes and in cars with tinted windows. They follow them, moms... They often take them to military headquarters, register recruits even according to their place of residence".
The lawyers add that the police officers are also involved in guarding the military points and meeting places where captured conscripts are brought.
Human rights defenders interviewed by the BBC recall an incident that happened with a 21-year-old resident of Moscow, who was recruited because of an advertisement on "Avita". The man posted an ad to sell the jacket, but the buyers turned out to be police officers who took him to the military commissariat.
A twenty-year-old user of the "Yula" service from Moscow found himself in a similar situation. He posted an ad advertising appliance repair services. The girl answered him. When the man went to meet the client, he was met by police officers who handcuffed him. The Muscovite was taken to the station, and then to the Military Commissariat and to the meeting place.
In general, since the beginning of November, human rights defenders interviewed by the BBC have received dozens of complaints about illegal recruitment. Military commissions also notify lawyers of more traditional violations—for example, refusing to submit to alternative civilian service.
"Trust in words begins to disappear"
Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and the military leadership of the Russian Federation have assured that conscripts will not be involved in the so-called "special military operation" (as the Russian authorities call the war in Ukraine).
At the same time, the media wrote that conscripts still end up in the war zone, are captured and even die in this war. The crew of the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the cruiser "Moscow", which sank in April - probably as a result of the Ukrainian attack - was partly made up of conscripts, conscripts.
According to official data, 27 sailors disappeared, of which 17 were officially declared dead. There were recruits among them.
At the beginning of March, Putin recognized the problems with the inclusion of conscripts in combat operations and ordered the prosecutor's office to carry out inspections and punish the guilty. The results of such checks have not been officially published.
Experts of the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) at the beginning of November doubted the promises of the Russian leadership and assumed that they were primarily related to the desire to avoid
mass evasion of military service. At the time, the ISW were sure that at least part of the conscripts would be sent to the front already in the spring.
The "Committee of Military Mothers of St. Petersburg" emphasizes that since August, recruits have been sent to the border areas of Russia: "Mothers call and say that their son has been transferred to the Belgorod region. And then it turns out that this transfer was not documented in any way."
Human rights activists remind that during the first six months of the invasion of Ukraine, the authorities assured the population of Russia that they were not planning to carry out mobilization. And then the mobilization was announced in September. "And in general, trust in words starts to disappear."