Interview with anarcho-syndicalists from Russia on mobilization and repression
Recently, our website published notes on mobilization in Russia, written by an anarchist from Russia. We continue to explore this topic through an interview with anarcho-syndicalists working in Russia. This interview provides further evidence that service in Putin’s army is often enforced and that expressions of resistance are brutally suppressed.
1) The Russian state is mobilising its citizens for war in Ukraine. How is society in general reacting to this?
First of all, you need to know that in Russia there is universal compulsory military service. The obligation applies to men aged 18 to 30 years. Formally, there is the possibility of alternative civilian service, but it is very difficult to achieve. In addition, the system of so-called “contract” service is becoming increasingly widespread: a person enters into an agreement (contract) with the Ministry of War to serve in the army and receives money for it.
At the very beginning of this war, both “regular” military personnel (conscripts) and “contract soldiers” were sent to the front. Furthermore, a “partial mobilization” was announced in the fall of 2022. Some of the mobilized troops were immediately sent to the front lines to plug gaps in the defenses where their units had suffered significant losses. The forced dispatch of people to the front caused discontent among the population. Migrants who have the right to reside in Russia are also being conscripted into the army.
There were protests in dozens of different cities, but they were suppressed.
Therefore, the authorities subsequently officially announced that only contract soldiers would be sent to the front. But in reality, back in 2024, there were reports that, for example, there were conscript soldiers at the front in the Kursk region.
The number of contract soldiers willing to fight is quite large. First of all, the authorities pay substantial sums of money for contract service, which attracts poor people who lack the means to survive. In the event of their death, their families receive the money. Furthermore, prisoners often sign contracts, promising amnesty in exchange.
However, the authorities’ claims that all contract soldiers are volunteers are untrue. There are numerous reports of conscripts being forced to sign contracts while still in the army, after which they are sent to the front. Such cases are often reported by relatives of those forcibly mobilized, and they are met with discontent. And there have already been cases of protests by contract soldiers who did not want to go to the front.
It’s notable that the mobilization was uneven across different regions. People complained that the recruitment was disproportionately concentrated in poor regions, regions inhabited by ethnic minorities, and so on. Discontent was noted in remote, poor regions of the country.
However, if we compare the situation with the one that exists in Ukraine, then in Russia there is not yet such widespread indignation about the mobilization, since the emphasis is on contract soldiers, not on those forcibly mobilized. However, overall, one can notice that there is growing weariness among the population about this war.
2) Are there many people in Russia who refuse to be mobilized into the army and go to war?
Nobody knows the exact number. According to various publications and sources, between several hundred thousand and approximately 700 thousand people have left Russia since the announcement of partial mobilization in September 2022. The authorities are taking measures to prevent those subject to conscription from leaving the country.
The recently deceased German pacifist Rudi Friedrich, a member of an organization Connection that assists military service objectors and deserters worldwide, cited the following figures this spring: Around 250,000 conscripts left Russia to avoid being forced to fight in the war, and more than 300,000 fled Ukraine.
Moreover, in 2024 alone, the Russian war Ministry recorded 50,500 cases of desertion and unauthorized abandonment of a unit in a warring army.
3) How can people in Russia defend themselves against mobilization?
The oldest methods of evading military service date back to the days of the Soviet Union. There are three: 1) obtaining a medical certificate diagnosing a condition that makes one unfit for military service (including feigning illness); 2) paying a bribe; 3) evading the draft notice.
....
(next questions:
(4) What specific methods for defence against mobilisation used by Working class?....
5) How the state reacts against those who do not want to be mobilized into the army?....)
all text is in link:
https://antimilitarismus.noblogs.org/post/2025/11/22/interview-with-anarcho-syndicalists-from-russia-on-mobilization-and-repression/
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