In recent days the Russian authorities have intensified the raids for recruits in the Moscow metro to prevent them from evading mandatory military service. According to various human rights organizations, such as the NGO Call to Conscience, this Tuesday, dozens of young people have been detained and transferred to a recruitment center in the southeast of the capital. Among them, those recruits who appealed to the authorities about their call to join the ranks, whether they are objectors or not, but who are considered evaders by the military commissariats. “The recruit is detained and transferred to the enlistment center,” says the Russian Civic Alliance.
The NGOs highlight that the arrests began last week, on the eve of the second reading this Tuesday of a law that extends recruitment all year roundwhich until now was reduced to two periods (from April 1 to July 15 and from October 1 to December 31).
With peace negotiations stalled and a possible war extension in 2026the Russian press has been reporting for weeks about a possible mobilization of reservists. In fact, last week the Russian Government approved a bill that will allow the Russian president, Vladimir Putinmobilize reservists in peacetime. According to the Kremlin, some 700,000 Russian soldiers are fighting in Ukraine, which has suffered more than a million casualties since February 2022, including more than 200,000 dead, according to independent sources.
