'Beaten until they enlisted': Russia ramps up forced recruitment amid Ukraine losses
Reports indicate that Russian authorities are using coercive tactics, including detention and physical abuse, to force men into military service for the war in Ukraine. While officially voluntary, the recruitment drive is increasingly aggressive due to manpower shortages.
Why it matters
The escalation of forced recruitment highlights the severity of Russia's military personnel challenges and the human rights implications of the ongoing conflict.
Russia is increasingly pressuring men into military service as voluntary recruitment slows, with military recruiters and police in some regions allegedly detaining men and coercing them into signing contracts to fight in Ukraine, according to The Wall Street Journal.The WSJ reported that the recruitment campaign has included men being stopped on streets, outside workplaces or during purported document checks and taken to military recruitment offices. Lawyers, rights activists and people who witnessed the incidents told the newspaper that some men were threatened or beaten until they agreed to enlist.The campaign echoes Russia’s 2022 partial mobilisation, when President Vladimir Putin ordered hundreds of thousands of reservists into the military after Russian forces suffered major manpower shortages. Unlike that mobilisation, however, the current recruitment drive remains officially voluntary.Alleged coercion in Russian regionsIn Penza, recruiters and law-enforcement officials have reportedly used aggressive tactics to pressure men into military service.
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