Employees of the FSB department for the Omsk region began calling men who were leaving Russia after the announcement of mobilization, and inviting them for a “survey”. Several people who received such invitations told Important Stories about this.
“The dialogue was something like this: hello, could you come to us tomorrow at the address, we need to ask you why you recently went abroad,” said one of the interlocutors of the publication. According to the man, he left Russia at the end of September and returned recently. None of those with whom Important Stories spoke went to the FSB.
The journalists called the number from which the calls were received, where they were confirmed that they were calling people who were leaving the country. “You just need to ask. Regular poll. Not even an interrogation. We’ll talk, draw up a protocol of the interrogation, calmly go home, ”said the intelligence officer. Human rights activists, contacted by journalists for comment, said that so far this practice is not widespread.
As it became known in February, Russian military registration and enlistment offices will have a common base for those liable for military service, which will allow them to quickly close their travel abroad, as well as search for them using surveillance cameras. After Vladimir Putin announced a “partial” mobilization on September 21, according to various estimates, from 500,000 to a million people left Russia.