Russian man declared ‘unfit for service’ reportedly forced to sign army contract

A Russian man who was designated “unfit for military service” was nonetheless forced to sign a contract with the Defence Ministry and was likely sent to the front on Friday, according to reports from the human rights group Conscientious Objectors Movement.

Nikita Sergeev, a man from the city of Petrozavodsk who was born in 1999, was assigned a fitness rating of Category D, which means he is officially unfit for service and cannot legally serve in the military in any capacity.

On 24 September, Sergeev went to the Petrozavodsk military enlistment office, believing he would undergo a medical examination for a civilian job as a repairman. He is almost completely blind in one eye due to a retinal burn. Doctors assigned him Category D and recorded it in his military ID.

Sergeev was not allowed to leave after the exam. According to the Conscientious Objectors Movement, a serviceman approached him and said he would be sent to the city of Blagoveshchensk, where even people with Category D would be put to use. Sergeev was forced into a car and taken to Blagoveshchensk via Moscow.

There, his military ID was confiscated and he was sent for a second medical examination. Two servicemen took him into the doctor’s office and ordered him to say he was healthy. No ophthalmologist examined him. Sergeev said he saw other men in his position being beaten.

He was then forced to sign a contract with the Defence Ministry and taken to a military base. He was due to be sent to the front on the morning of 2 October. There have been no public reports on his whereabouts since then.

In early September, Vladimir Putin backed a proposal by pro-invasion war correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny to allow volunteers with a Category D rating to serve in drone defence units. Human rights activists say the initiative creates a risk that people deemed entirely unfit for service will be coerced into taking part in the war.