This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
Russia’s Defense Ministry has confirmed for the first time that conscripts are among military personnel involved in Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Conscripts are those who have been involuntarily drafted into the military.
Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on March 9 that “some of the conscripts” had been captured by Ukrainian armed forces, adding that “almost all of the conscripts” had been recalled from Ukrainian territory.
Top Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have insisted that there are no conscripts involved in the invasion, emphasizing that only soldiers serving on a contract basis are fighting in Ukraine.
But Ukraine has placed numerous videos of captured Russian soldiers, many of whom were conscripts between the ages of 18 to 20, on the Internet. Many Russian mothers have taken to social media to find out where their sons are, while rights groups say they have been swamped with calls from family members of soldiers looking for information.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on March 9 that Putin ordered the Military Prosecutor’s Office to investigate how conscripts had turned up in Ukraine and to the punish officials who allowed their presence there.
