Mobilization in Russia for November 20-21, volunteer summary
The Kremlin is not discussing the possibility of continuing the mobilization, Dmitry Peskov [Russian President’s Spokesman] said. “I cannot speak for the Ministry of Defense. There are no discussions on this matter in the Kremlin,” he said.
MinTsifry [the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of Russia] is developing an additional draft deferment list for the Ministry of Defense, according to TASS [a Russian state-owned news agency].
Relatives of draftees are protesting against sending mobilized men to the front line in 15 regions of Russia. Verstka media outlet compiled a map of the protests. Relatives are most concerned about the draftees who ended up at the front in the Svatove district of the Luhansk region. The authorities of several regions initially promised them to bring mobilized men to the rear or to Russia. Verstka has not yet been able to confirm a single case of a real return of draftees from the "special operation" area. Some of the relatives united in the Council of Mothers on the basis of the Nationwide Union for the Revival of Russia. They demand that the Ministry of Defense holds a round table conference to discuss the problems of the draftees. Others are trying to solve problems on their own. Relatives of mobilized soldiers from the Kursk region, for example, intend to go to the Luhansk region, where draftees, who refuse to return to the front, are kept in basements.
Wives of mobilized men met with Valentin Konovalov, the Head of Russia’s constituent republic of Khakassia. Federal and regional payments to mobilized men and their families, the implementation of support measures, and a number of other topics were discussed at the meeting.
Alexander Avdeev, the Governor of the Vladimir region, responded to complaints from relatives of drafted residents, who claim that soldiers were sent to the first line of defense with no training, and they immediately came under fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces. “You’ve happened to get to the front line, because there was a breakthrough from the other side. I'm not sending you to the front line; I don't know the plan of the command. I roughly understand where the breakthroughs will come from because there is an understanding where the Armed Forces of Ukraine are moving up reserves”, the governor admitted.
The Sota Telegram channel talked with a relative of a mobilized soldier from the Primorsky Region who participated in the fighting for Pavlivka. He reported heavy losses and noted supply problems. Soldiers ate only walnuts and drank water from puddles. From the beginning of the service to the present, the mobilized soldier lost 30 kg. At the moment, he is in a rehabilitation center, after which he will return to the front. The mobilized told his wife about his participation in the assault on Pavlivka at the end of October, after that he couldn’t be reached. “Out of 120 people, 19 survived”, he said.
The Military Prosecutor's Office officially recognized the “improper training” of mobilized soldiers in the military unit in the Primorsky Territory. “Remedial action order on the elimination of violations” was filed to the commander of the 5th Combined Arms Army, Major General Alexei Podivilkov. At the same time, the response of the Military Prosecutor's Office does not say why mobilized soldiers are still being held in the basements of the so-called LDPR.
The Court of Bataysk fined Olesya Shishkanova, the sister of a mobilized soldier, for a video about problems at the front line. She was issued a fine of 30 thousand rubles under the article on discrediting the army for a video of mobilized soldiers who complained about the lack of normal uniforms and weapons. Among the mobilized was her brother, who, along with the rest was to be sent to the front line.
The mobilized citizens of Nizhny Novgorod do not have enough gear to send them to the “special operation”. They wrote about this to the head of the regional security department Natalya Cherepanova. Now the mobilized are in the Kursk region. To be sent to the special military operation, they need combat boots, uniforms, radio stations, balaclava helmets, tactical gloves, thermal underwear, and so on. According to the residents of Nizhny Novgorod, they were not given all this in full in the military unit. The mobilized couldn’t buy equipment on their own, so they applied to the Nizhny Novgorod authorities.
Mobilized soldiers from the Sverdlovsk region complain about the lack of monthly payments. Servicemen and their relatives have already submitted 125 complaints on this issue.
Mobilized Yugra residents complained about poor training at the training center in Chebarkul. During the month of their stay in the camp, they were taken to the shooting range only three times without weapons. For example, instead of grenades, the mobilized were offered to make and throw snowballs. Here you can see the conditions in which the mobilized from Yakutia spend their free time.
According to the Ministry of Defense, combat training of mobilized soldiers is in full swing. In the Kaliningrad region, conscripts are trained to operate quadcopters to drop grenades on enemy positions. They also practice detecting enemy UAVs and changing positions. At the training ground in the Samara region, mobilized servicemen practice night firing. In North Ossetia, members of the military police units, consisting mainly of conscripted men, are being trained. From Tver, another group of mobilized soldiers was sent to the rear area of the "special operation" zone. A farewell ceremony for the departing soldiers was held at the Tyumen railway station. In Omsk, mobilized men sang "Katyusha" [iconic Soviet WW2 song] before being sent to the front line.
Yevgeny Podlegaev and Maksim Petrushechkin from the town of Serov, Sverdlovsk region, were killed in action in Ukraine. Mobilized soldier Ruslan Nutfulin from Satka, Chelyabinsk region, was also killed. Mobilized Senior Lieutenant Konstantin Kurdin from Stary Oskol was killed on October 29 in the village of Popivka in the Svatove district, Luhansk region. A captured mobilized soldier asked to be exchanged for the raccoon stolen by Russians from the Kherson zoo.
At least 39 mobilized Russian soldiers died before even reaching the combat zone. One of them, a Tyumen resident, died on a train. 72.RU media outlet reported that the man died in a troop sleeper carriage that left Tyumen in early November. The man fell ill and was later pronounced dead. The Investigative Committee's regional department denied journalists’ request for information about the cause of the soldier's death.
Ufa1 media outlet published a detailed story of 54-year-old neurosurgeon Akhmet Abubakirov from Sterlitamak, who was called up to the war and later returned home. He praised the training process in Yelan, as well as soldiers' living conditions. However, according to the man, in the combat zone, he, as a surgeon, was not needed. "I would be ready to stay if my help as a surgeon was needed, but not as a medic who only sorts wounded servicemen," he said. While Akhmet Abubakirov was preparing to go to the front, a campaign to bring him back home was launched in Bashkortostan. The doctor's family, his colleagues, and patients led the initiative. A week later, it became known that the doctor was returning home.
The Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Region fundraised 400.000 rubles to support the mobilized. Civil volunteers in the Altai Region announced the collection of felt boots, woolen sweaters, mittens and scarves to be sent to the front. And the mobilized from Tomsk collected money from the locals to purchase potbelly stoves. “The money was collected, the stoves purchased and we are going to install them tonight. I will definitely share the video with you,”one of the conscripts wrote. Previously, the mobilized soldiers published a request for "help in buying stoves", as "it got colder in Siberia", and "the regular stoves are no good". A workshop in Krasnoyarsk has launched the sewing of sweatshirts and balaclavas for servicemen. “I can’t help in terms of funds, but I can tailor and sew,” the workshop owner said. As Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] found out, in Samara Oblast, the instructors of the Samara Airsoft Federation were assigned to train mobilized soldiers before their deployment to the front line. Anton Ptichkin, the head of the Federation, claims that 600 people have already passed such classes.
In Tyumen Oblast, 74 social living rooms are open for the families of those mobilized soldiers. There they receive the assistance of psychologists and social workers, as well as communication. On October 28, the Bumaga media outlet reported that the St. Petersburg authorities sent a recommendation letter to colleges on cooperation with the #МЫВМЕСТЕ (#WEARETOGETHER) patriotic movement, which aids Russian mobilized and military personnel. Today, the Kommersant paper reported that more than 160 educational institutions (schools and colleges) from all over Russia joined this "patriotic action". According to the publication, they sewed more than 30,000 clothing items for soldiers.