Conscripts from Siberia sent to Ukraine border amid rising tensions

Conscripts from the Irkutsk region have begun preparations to be transferred to the border with Ukraine, to the Kursk and Belgorod regions, alarms the project "People of Baikal," which cites accounts from soldiers' families. During the breakthrough of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region, there could have been several hundred conscripts from all over Russia. Many of them are out of contact today.

According to the aunt of one of the conscripts, her nephew and other soldiers were called up and sent to a training centre in the town of Shelekhov in the Irkutsk region and from there to military units in the Sverdlovsk region and the Altai Territory.

Currently, conscripts are being sent to the border areas after completing a three-month course for young warriors.

Earlier, the agency Agenstvo.Novosti, citing information obtained from organisations providing legal assistance to Russian soldiers, reported that "the Russian command refused to transfer conscripts from the Kursk region to the rear."

Mothers reported that conscripts were deemed a "combat unit." We are talking about those soldiers who serve in other regions and have been sent to the border zone as part of a "business trip." There is a known case where soldiers from the Voronezh region have already been moved this way.

After the attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Kursk region, "dozens of conscripts disappeared and stopped communicating with their loved ones."

Svetlana's son, serving in Sudzha, wrote to her on the evening of 6 August that he was going "as reinforcements." "The last ones stayed. The rest left. There were wounded" — citing a text message from her son. Svetlana has not been in contact with him since then.

In the video: 22-year-old Daniil Kolesnikov from the Belgorod region. In the recording, he says he served in the 488th regiment on the border in the Kursk area. He was captured by Ukrainian forces during the breakthrough.

A similar story happened to Yevgeniya's nephew from Novoltaysk, who was drafted into military service in the autumn of 2023. She said the last time her relative contacted her was on the afternoon of 7 August. Earlier, he managed to report that he was alive and not captured, but "many conscripts were captured," and some were killed.

At the post where Yevgeniya's nephew was located, there were still 30 conscripts. According to him, those who survived were waiting for evacuation.

Now, 52 relatives of missing conscripts have united to find information about their loved ones and reach the Ministry of Defence, writes the project "People of Baikal."