Hundreds of thousands of men mobilized by Russian President Vladimir Putin abandoned their country even before they received their draft papers. But Governor Khabarovsk Mikhail Degtyarev, who controls a region in the Far East portion of Russia, fired the military commissioner in his area and sent half of the men home, because the draftees were not truly eligible.
He just released a video to The Telegram app where he said that those he sent home “did not meet the selection criteria,” according to Reuters:
‘In 10 days, several thousand of our countrymen received summons and arrived at the military registration and enlistment offices. About half of them we returned home as they did not meet the selection criteria for entering the military service.’
Degtyarev indicated that firing Commissar Yuri Laiko was not a problem in Moscow’s mobilization plan, such as it has been. Although Putin claimed that his draft was only for “fighting-age men and people with military experience and “specialties,” he lied.
Generals on the ground sent the new soldiers to the front with as little as 48 hours of training and referred to them as “meat.” And the Russian military was in such dire shape, the soldiers were told all that the military would provide was uniforms and weapons. They would have to fend for themselves for food and other necessities.
This was the first time since World War II that Moscow has had a draft. This and the body bags returning home have finally made the Russian people realize what has been happening.
The draft has called up people who were clearly not eligible for the draft for reasons ranging from their age to their health. Some of them were handed rusted guns that likely would not fire in any case.
According to Ukraine War Now’s tweet:
‘In the forest, near the city of Omsk, those mobilized have been living on the streets for a week. The men are waiting to be settled in the unit. Meanwhile, conscripts collect firewood, light fires, warm themselves with alcohol and sleep on the ground.’
People protesting in Russia faced up to 15 years in prison. And yet, they protested this draft. The protests have been in over 30 cities and towns. And over 2,000 people have been arrested thus far. Some protestors were handed their draft papers at the time. The Kremlin indicated that doing so was “perfectly legal.”
As the indefatigable Ukrainian soldiers take back lands Putin occupied in 2014, The Independent Ukrainian journalist Illia Ponomarenko tweeted:
‘I say to hell with Putin. No point talking to this mad-ass fruitcake lost in idiotic pseudo-history fantasies. Ukraine and the world can have talks with someone at least a bit more sane in charge of Russia.’
It appears that Putin is losing his war big time.
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
Christie writes Gloria Christie Reports & Three White Lions Substack newsletters and a Three White Lions podcast available on Apple, Spotify, etc. She is a political journalist for the liberal online newspaper The Bipartisan Report. Written in her own unique style with a twist of humor. Christie’s Mueller Report Adventures In Bite-Sizes a real-life compelling spy mystery (in progress). Find her here on Facebook. Or at Three White Lions her book on Amazon Kindle Vella and the Gloria Christie Three White Lions podcast on Apple, Spotify, etc.
