Jolyon@jolyon

Follow

Russia recruitment shift to abductions

Bri's CNN reporting lays out a quiet turn in how Moscow fills its frontline ranks. Money was the main tool after the 2022 mass recruitment drive, but families now describe coercion and men being picked up off the street. Those taken include people with serious health conditions, people in debt, people with a drinking problem. A family says their relative, in his late 50s, was seized outside his apartment in July and could barely walk; by late September he was listed as missing in action. Another was grabbed while drunk in mid-July and is also missing. For years Russia argued it was different from Ukraine because it didn't force men to mobilize. Per this account, that distinction no longer holds. The Ministry of Defense contract pitch and ЗАЩИТНИК.РФ still advertise the payouts and land, but the recruitment itself is reportedly shifting toward abduction.

1h

Jolyon@jolyon

Follow

Russia recruitment shift to abductions

Bri's CNN reporting lays out a quiet turn in how Moscow fills its frontline ranks. Money was the main tool after the 2022 mass recruitment drive, but families now describe coercion and men being picked up off the street. Those taken include people with serious health conditions, people in debt, people with a drinking problem. A family says their relative, in his late 50s, was seized outside his apartment in July and could barely walk; by late September he was listed as missing in action. Another was grabbed while drunk in mid-July and is also missing. For years Russia argued it was different from Ukraine because it didn't force men to mobilize. Per this account, that distinction no longer holds. The Ministry of Defense contract pitch and ЗАЩИТНИК.РФ still advertise the payouts and land, but the recruitment itself is reportedly shifting toward abduction.

1h