Russia's desperate draft: Disabled soldiers forced to the frontline
Both Ukraine and Russia are facing significant staffing challenges in their armies. Reports indicate that conscripts are being forcibly recruited from the streets on both sides. However, there is a notable difference: the Kremlin does not hesitate to conscript individuals with disabilities and those recovering from injuries.
Despite Kremlin propaganda consistently asserting that there is no difficulty in recruiting volunteers for service, the incentives for signing contracts have been steadily increasing. Another pay rise occurred in February, making it the fourth in the past year. The Russians are making every effort to maintain an average level of army contracts, which has been approximately 30,000 per month over the last year.
This rate of enlisting new soldiers means that the conscripts and volunteers can only just cover the monthly losses suffered by the army in Ukraine over the past six months.
The Kremlin is doing everything possible to avoid a general mobilisation and to acknowledge that the army has issues with personnel replenishment, and that the "special military operation" is not proceeding as planned. Consequently, roundups are becoming more frequent. They even occur in hospitals and rehabilitation centres.
Roundups of the disabled
Aleksei Gauna was injured at the front, and severe leg injuries mean he will be disabled for life. Consequently, he was officially recognised as having a third-degree disability by the Volgograd Oblast State Bureau of Medical and Social Examinations.
Upon returning from rehabilitation and submitting his documents to his unit, he was arrested by the military police, who labelled him a deserter. Following a decision by the military prosecutor, he was assigned to a penal battalion and sent back to the front. Since then, contact with him has been lost.
Gauna's story, the first of its kind, was reported back in June of last year. It might have been considered an isolated case, but it's not. Since then, there have been increasing reports, primarily of contract soldiers who, after recovery, presented themselves before medical commissions and, instead of being discharged, were sent back to the front. An increasing number of videos, recorded by soldiers, are documenting such abuses.
In the village of Troitskaya in the Republic of Ingushetia, recovering soldiers from the 503rd Guards Motorised Rifle Regiment who attended a medical commission were loaded onto trucks and returned to the trenches. Comments on Telegram channels suggest that the command believes the wounded will recover at the front, and if they can already move, it means they are fit for battle.
A similar situation occurred in Yekaterinburg. However, there were dozens of wounded and disabled soldiers who rebelled and refused to return to fight. The military police intervened, and they are all already in the Luhansk Oblast today.
Removed from hospitals
People attending military commissions are there simply to obtain a discharge entry in their military books so that the wounded can receive compensation and possibly a pension, unknowingly walking into a trap. However, at times, the trap comes to them.
In Yeysk, located by the Sea of Azov, soldiers were literally pulled from the hospital and forced into vehicles destined for Donbas. According to Russian social media, one of them had recently undergone two surgeries and required another. The man is missing a finger and walks with crutches.
Others still have postoperative drains or metal stabilisers in their limbs, but will soon be sent to fight. Russians are beginning to question why the disabled are being taken back to war when they might die en route. The first tentative protests have appeared.
Novosibirsk doctor Valery Illarionov organised a one-person protest in the city centre, addressing the Ministry of Defence: "Who gave you the right to treat our fathers, sons, brothers, and husbands this way? The war will end, and you will be asked why you maimed our people. No one gave you that right. Soldiers come to us sent to the front on crutches. If you can't walk, they say, you'll crawl to the battle. What is this? Who creates such an army? It's complete chaos!" he says on a recording.
In theory, reserves amount to about 25 million people who underwent military training as part of compulsory service. However, over two-thirds of them have impairments that disqualify them from frontline service, whether due to age or health issues.
Therefore, Russia's Ministry of Defence has proposed lowering health requirements for contract soldiers. Even so, there remains a shortage of volunteers. Very few volunteers now come from poor provinces, and penal colonies are being tapped. Soon, the Kremlin will have to appeal to Russians from major cities, who have lived in peace.
