More and more Russian men are trying to avoid military service, some lawyers and rights groups say

LONDON, July 8 (Reuters) – Danila Davydov said he left Russia weeks after the Kremlin sent troops to Ukraine because he feared he would have to take part in a war he did not support.

The 22-year-old digital artist, who lived in St. Petersburg, said that as the conflict continued, he worried that Russia might pressure young people like him to serve in the military.

“I didn’t want to go to war or prison, so I decided to leave,” Davydov told Reuters from Kazakhstan, where he said he was currently working.

He is among what some lawyers and rights advocates say is an increased number of young Russian men seeking to avoid the country’s mandatory military service since the conflict with Ukraine began in late February, illustrating Russian society’s ambivalence toward the conflict.

Some young men leave the country, while others seek advice on obtaining exemptions or alternative routes, or simply ignore their drafts in the hope that authorities will not pursue them, according to Reuters interviews with seven men currently trying to avoid military service as and five lawyers and human rights defenders.

This is despite the risk of fines or up to two years in prison – in a country where military service is compulsory for young men aged 18 to 27. One man told Reuters that refusing to fight led to tensions with family members who believed military service was a young man’s duty.

Davydov said he was able to deregister from military service and leave the country because he had a job offer abroad. He wants to return home one day, he said, but laments that it may not be soon: “I love Russia and I miss it very much.”

The Kremlin referred questions to the defense ministry, which did not respond to a request for comment on how widespread draft evasion is and whether it affects the function of Russia’s armed forces. On its website, the ministry says that “service in the army and navy is an honorable duty of a Russian citizen, which gives significant advantages in the future.”

Moscow claims it is conducting a special military operation and that it is proceeding according to plan. Russian President Vladimir Putin praised those fighting for Russia as “heroes” who saved Russian-speakers from persecution and thwarted what he said was a Western plan to destroy Russia. In March, he described Russians whose thoughts were more aligned with the West than with Russia as “traitors.” Read more

On February 24, Russia sent thousands of troops into Ukraine, launching Europe’s largest land invasion since World War II. Since the withdrawal of Russian troops from near Kyiv, the war has slowed to a fierce artillery contest with Moscow focused on seizing territory in eastern Ukraine.

Putin is betting on a professional army that the West says has suffered significant losses in the war. If the army cannot hire enough contract soldiers, Putin’s options will include using conscripts, mobilizing Russian society or curbing his ambitions.

Although Putin has repeatedly said publicly that conscripts should not fight in the Ukraine conflict, the Defense Ministry said in early March that some had already done so. Last month, a military prosecutor told the upper house of parliament that about 600 conscripts had been drawn into the conflict and that about a dozen officers had been disciplined as a result. Read more

Ukraine has introduced martial law: men aged 18 to 60 are prohibited from leaving the country. Kyiv says it will fight to the bitter end against what it sees as an unprovoked, imperial-style land grab.

“A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE SCARED”

Since Peter the Great made Russia a major European power, its rulers have often relied on military service as part of the vast Russian army, one of the largest fighting forces in the world. Men of military age must serve one year of conscription. Russia conscripts about 260,000 a year twice a year. Russia’s total armed forces number about 900,000, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). Read more

Avoidance of the draft is a well-established practice, including through legal means such as delaying service through research and claiming medical exemptions. But recent months have seen an increase in young men seeking help on how to do so, according to four lawyers and rights groups that offer advice and legal assistance to such young men. This is mostly from people in big cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg, according to two of them.

One group that provides free legal advice, called Release, is co-run by Dmitry Lutsenko, a Russian who now lives in Cyprus. He said membership in a public Telegram group for those seeking advice on how to avoid conscription, which the group runs, has grown to more than 1,000 people, up from about 200 before the conflict.

Another human rights group called Citizen. army. Law, focuses on advice for people seeking alternative types of military service, which includes working in a government organization such as a hospital instead of the military. The group said it had seen a tenfold increase in the number of people asking for an alternative service to more than 400 this year, compared to around 40 in the same period last year. “A lot of people are scared. They don’t want to join an army that is fighting,” said Sergey Krivenko, who heads the organization.

Lawyer Denis Koksharov, chairman of the Prizivnik legal association, said earlier in the conflict he had seen an estimated 50 percent increase in the number of people seeking advice on avoiding military service, without elaborating on the figures. He added that since then the number of applications has decreased and the organization has recently seen an increase in young men wanting to volunteer to fight.

Koksharov explains the hesitation by people getting used to the current situation and the increase in people “showing patriotism”.

MISSING HOME

Fyodor Strelin, 27, from St. Petersburg, said he protested the war immediately after the invasion but decided to leave Russia at the end of February.

Now in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, Strelin said he had previously avoided conscription after securing an exemption last year due to short-sightedness, but chose to leave Russia due to concerns about general mobilisation. “I miss my home and for now I feel like I’ve lost my place in life,” he said.

Some young men who have been drafted ignore the call in the hope that the authorities will get enough attention elsewhere, according to six of the young men, lawyers and human rights activists interviewed by Reuters.

Kirill, a 26-year-old from southern Russia who works in technology, said he received a draft in April, followed by a phone call in May asking him to go for a medical, but did not respond because he did not support the operation of Russia in Ukraine.

That has caused tension among some family and friends who support the war and believe everyone should serve their duty, said Cyril, who asked that his last name not be used. “People in Ukraine are like brothers. I know many people in the country and I cannot support these actions,” he added.

In June, police visited his home when he was out and asked his mother why he was avoiding his military service, according to Cyril. Reuters was unable to confirm Cyril’s account. Reuters tried to contact the media relations service of the Russian Interior Ministry. The person answering the phone provided another number that went unanswered after several attempts. Reuters also sent an email but received an automated reply saying it could not be delivered.

WAR AND PEACE

Kyiv and Western allies estimate that Russia has lost at least as many men as the 15,000 Soviets killed in the 1979-1989 Soviet-Afghan war. Moscow has not updated its official casualty figures since late March, when it said 1,351 Russian soldiers have been killed and thousands more injured since the beginning of the military campaign in Ukraine.

There are signs that Russia is looking for more men to fight. In May, Putin signed a law that lifted the upper age limit of 40 for people who want to join the Russian army. Lawmakers at the time said the change was to attract experienced people with specializations in fields such as advanced military equipment and engineering.

A Russian man in his 30s, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters he had been summoned by phone to report for military service on the pretext of clarifying some personal details. While there, he was questioned by an unidentified man in military fatigues about his previous military service and offered 300,000 rubles ($5,000) a month if he signed up to fight in Ukraine, he said.

Reuters was unable to independently verify his account.

The man said he declined the offer because he was not a professional soldier and had never fired a shot since he finished his service.

“What good is 300,000 rubles to a dead man?” he said.

Editing by Cassell Bryan-Low

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