The Saint Petersburg region authorities have ordered state-owned enterprises to send men aged from 18 to 60 to military retraining, employees of such enterprises told Novaya Gazeta. Europe.
According to an engineer of one of these enterprises, the orders come from military enlistment offices by phone. The government officials ask how many employees the enterprise can do without so they can be sent to retraining during the period of vacations.
Representatives of the enlistment offices serve the military summons to employees either at work or when they come into the enlistment office. The next day, these “conscripts” are obligated to come to the enlistment office closest to the place of their residence, with documents and essential items at the ready.
On 3 August, a bus with men subject to the retraining left the military enlistment office in the town of Gatchina, reports the correspondent of Novaya Gazeta. Europe from the scene.
On 3 August, a bus with men subject to the retraining left the military enlistment office in the town of Gatchina
About 20 people were standing near the bus before the take off. One of the men, who introduced himself as Konstantin, said that he had been demobilised only three years ago and he was surprised to be selected for retraining.
“On 1 August, I wasn’t at work, my bosses got paid a visit,” Konstantin told us. “They received an order for me to come to the military enlistment office the next day. I come in, they hand me the summons and tell me that tomorrow I have to come to the office, from where I will be taken to a military unit. They didn’t specify which one. My military specialty is military mechanics but there are even cooks here. I’m the youngest, most of the men here are from 30 to 45-year-old. They told us we wouldn’t be going to Ukraine.”
Another man told us that he hadn’t even done compulsory service, but the plant he works at Elektropribor received an order for men, so he was sent to retraining despite never having served.
During the conversation, Russia’s National Guard officers asked Novaya’s correspondent to leave the restricted access area and promised to send a military enlistment office representative. After a minute, a man in civilian clothes came down and, without introducing himself, informed the correspondent that he was the one responsible for organising the departure of the “conscripts”. “These guys won’t be going to the front-lines, they will be doing repairs on the military equipment coming from over the line (from Ukraine - translator’s note). But if you want to make some money, you have to go serve in a named regiment. We are forming two of these right now: the Nevsky regiment and the Ladozhsky regiment. Come to the recruiting station, people are currently being recruited there,” the man said to the journalist.
In total, on 3 August, according to the estimates of the Novaya Gazeta. Europe’s correspondent, 22 “conscripts” left Gatchina for the place where the retraining will happen. The men were not informed of the place of arrival.
On 26 July, the city of Ryazan administration head Elena Sorokina offered employees of the Ryazan enterprises to go to the war in Ukraine. “I have asked all the directors to explain to their employees how important this is. To explain to the employees in a detailed, simple, and accessible way that there’s an opportunity to enter military service under the contract,” she wrote in a post. Ryazan residents offered the administration officials to go to war themselves so they could be an example for the citizens.
Afterwards, Russia’s Defence Ministry said that it was not conducting any mobilisation events. “Please note that only a part of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is involved in the special military operation, the number of which is sufficient to fulfil all the tasks set by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief,” the ministry underlined.
