Sergey Sobyanin, the Moscow mayor, says mobilisation in Russia’s capital “is over”.
“Our mobilisation quota has been fulfilled. All conscription collecting points close at 2 p.m. Moscow time. All draft cards sent to people’s homes and workplaces cease to be effective,” he stated. He did not specify how many people in Moscow had been conscripted.
The Moscow mobilisation decree was signed on 22 September. The city’s chief draft officer announced that legal advisers helping people unlawfully dodge the draft would be prosecuted.
Moscow residents reported that draft cards are issued to people who do not fit the Defence Ministry's criteria. For instance, Oleg Vasilyev, a man with spinal muscular atrophy, received one.
Nguyễn Vũ Hoàng Anh, a woman from Vietnam, also received a draft card earlier. She became a citizen of Russia in 2020. She has never worked in medical or military fields, she is currently an analyst for the Lamoda online retailer. “I assume that they give out draft notices to everyone [they can find] in accordance with their registered address, and my gender isn’t clear from my name,” Nguyễn commented.
Police raids were reported in Moscow and Saint Petersburg with officers handing out draft cards to men in the street. The upper chamber of Russia’s parliament later called this illegal.
