Option 1: Escape from the military unit
“Mom took me away and told the commander that I had gone on a drinking binge”
Alexander <hereinafter, the names have been changed in the interests of the heroes – The Insider> worked on road equipment at an enterprise in Yakutia, but after September 21, 2022, his life changed dramatically. He became the first mobilized, in respect of which a criminal case was opened on the unauthorized abandonment of the unit:
“I heard that mobilization had begun, but I did not understand what it meant. I came to work, discussed with the peasants that the war was going on, that if they call from some unknown numbers, then do not pick up the phone – they can be taken to war.
He recalls that on the same day he received a call from an unfamiliar number, but he did not answer, and three days later the head of the column approached him with the words that they had already searched him and could not get through. This was followed by a call from the personnel department with instructions to “run to them” with a passport and a military ID.
There was a fuss in the personnel department – apparently, the employees were trying to deal with the list of mobilized, which included about a hundred people:
“I gave them a passport and a military ID, they immediately threw them into a folder, without explaining anything. I asked to be told what happened. I was told that I was fired and mobilized. They refused to return the documents. They said that I should go to the military registration and enlistment office right now. They also gave me a summons – it was crooked, without a name, only my address was written in pencil.
In the military registration and enlistment office, Alexander saw a similar situation. Then he approached a friend from the administration to find out what was going on. He took him to the office, where he already wrote the name and surname of Alexander on the agenda with a pen and said that at 6 am the next day he should be at the assembly point, from where the mobilized will fly further:
“I left the military enlistment office, stood there for another 15 minutes, probably. Thought he smoked. I called my friends and told them that I was mobilized. I went home, got ready, took the most necessary clothes, something to eat, cigarettes, a charger. The next day I came to the military enlistment office at 6 in the morning.
We had to wait a couple of hours for the plane. At this time, Alexander met acquaintances from neighboring villages, who were also mobilized – when they left work, three buses were already waiting for them:
"They were told: 'Get ready, take your documents, say goodbye to your relatives and let's go.' What struck me was that they were all drunk, walking around, making some barragos. Then we, like sheep, were herded into buses to the airport, and then onto the plane. At the airport, they didn’t even inspect us – they immediately took us to the plane. No one knew exactly where we were being taken.”
When the plane landed, Alexander turned on the phone and realized that he was in Ulan-Ude. It turned out that he was being sent to the unit where he had previously served. There Alexander hoped to meet acquaintances, but the situation surprised him:
“We were just dropped off at the checkpoint. I approached the military man, said that we were mobilized, and asked where we should go. He says: “How do I know?” And so he answered about all the questions – what should we do, who to contact. Do what you want, he says. I told him that I served here, asked to let us in – it was night, we had to sleep somewhere. He just took it, opened the gate and let 50 people in.
Everyone is drunk, sitting drinking, someone is fighting in the toilet, not a single officer. I think where did we end up. On the second floor – the same picture, on the third I already met one officer. I told him that we had just arrived from Yakutia. It turned out that he did not know about us. He said that there were no places for us – look for yourself where to spend the night, do what you want. There is a very large part, six barracks. In the end, we found a place somewhere in the corner of the barracks on the floor.”
Everyone is drunk, sitting drinking, someone is fighting in the toilet, not a single officer
Alexander said that he was horrified by the information stand in the unit: there were photographs of the killed Ukrainian soldiers and a caption in the spirit of "these are fascists, crests must be killed."
The officers appeared only on the second day, Alexander recalls. The highest rank was a senior lieutenant. But he also did not know what to do with the mobilized. Alexander said that he served in this unit, and the officer “said that those with whom I served are no more – they all died in Ukraine. When it all started, the whole unit was sent there.” Later, Alexander met one of his colleagues – a contract soldier who survived. He said that they came under fire, he was wounded, but recovered and returned back. He advised Alexander to go to the artillery in order to stay alive. The main thing, according to him, is not to get into a tank unit or infantry, because the mobilized will immediately be sent to the front line. At that moment, Alexander decided that he would not go to fight.
The next day, he called his mother and told everything: “She asked me why I agreed at all, but I don’t know myself. In general, she said that she would fly in and leave together. In general, for the most part thanks to her, I decided to leave.
On the fifth day, Alexander told the commander that he did not want to go anywhere and kill people and asked what could be done. The commander laughed in response, called him a traitor and said that he still had to go:
“He began to threaten: “Do you understand what they do with such people? They will shoot you right away.” He told me to write a refusal statement and wait for the military police. I refused to write and reminded him that there is, for example, an alternative civilian service (ACS). He said that I should not build a fool, and that I was not entitled to the ACS, because I was mobilized.
After talking with the commander, Alexander received a call from his mother, who said that she was waiting for him at the agreed place.
Alexander recalls that at that moment he was very panicking, although at that time everyone was leaving the unit – there was no control: “Since the time of my service in 2013–2014, I remembered that there was a hole in the wall around the unit to make it convenient to walk – so there was no need to go around. I think that I could have left through the checkpoint, but I decided to do it discreetly – through this hole. There my mother was already waiting for me with a taxi. The taxi driver immediately understood everything and began to rush us. He said that “there were no peasants left in Buryatia at all,” and supported Alexander, adding that he understood him. He suggested that he immediately fly to Kazakhstan or Mongolia, until the units were missed. And he sent them to spend the night with his mother to his sister, who rented an apartment.
The taxi driver said that “there are no men left in Buryatia” and helped us leave
On the same day, the officer with whom Alexander spoke in the unit began to look for him: “He called me, my mother picked up the phone and told him that I was nervous, swelled and now unable to return, but tomorrow she will bring me. The next day we flew to Novosibirsk, and he called again. Mom said that I had gone on a drinking binge, and the officer said that I had to return in a few hours, otherwise he would put me on the wanted list. Thanks to this, we knew how much time we had. I immediately took a ticket to Kazakhstan. We said goodbye to my mother in Novosibirsk.”
It was necessary to fly through Moscow, and Alexander was worried that he would be detained, but decided to go to the end. As a result, he calmly flew to Kazakhstan, and he was put on the wanted list only three days later. So Alexander became a defendant in the first criminal case against the mobilized about the unauthorized abandonment of the unit. Now he plans to apply for political asylum, for this he is considering several countries.
Option 2: Accept the risks of being in the colony and not leaving the unit
“If they don’t let me do alternative service, I’ll sit down”
Maxim is a native of the Luhansk region. Almost 10 years ago, he left the war for Russia and received a Russian passport. In September, he was mobilized in one day: he received a summons to clarify the data on September 20 – the day before the announcement of mobilization , and on the 22nd, he and two dozen other mobilized people were loaded onto buses right at the military registration and enlistment office and taken to a unit in the Western Military District.
There they were told what was happening, what events and payments awaited them: “They also said that they were not waiting for us. That is, it was news to them that buses with mobilized people began to arrive.” By evening, there were fewer people – someone was taken to another part, someone confirmed their reservation, someone – information about health problems, and they were released.
Around 10 p.m., eight mobilized men who remained in the unit were taken to the office and tried to force them to sign contracts, arguing that no adjustments had come on them, and they had no choice: “Either we sign this contact and go to serve, or we are being prosecuted." The military managed to convince three.
Either we sign a contract and go to serve, or criminal cases are brought against us
Two of those who did not sign contracts, but were still in the unit, simply left. Later, as Maxim said, they were found and sent to fight in Ukraine – they were somewhere near Kremennaya , there was no more information from them. On the first evening, Maxim himself left the unit: with his wife and parents, they went to the pharmacy for pills, because he had a heart attack. Then he returned, but, as it turned out later, he was already considered a fugitive. He was taken to the commandant's office to give explanations: “I talked with the captain of justice for a very long time, he put a lot of pressure on me – he wanted me to serve. He was very attracted to where I came from and what my roots were. On this occasion, everyone had a special interest in my person. As a result, the case ended with a disciplinary sanction.
Maxim several times managed to agree with the commander that he was allowed to go home for the weekend, and all this time he and his family were looking for a way out of the situation: “We wrote an appeal to the prosecutor’s office, the president, and the Ministry of Defense.” Maxim also filed an appeal with the military prosecutor's office. The assistant prosecutor confirmed that he should not have been called up and promised to deal with the violations. However, he said that now Maxim needs to return to the unit. Later he was released from the unit to go home for a longer period – from October 7 to December 26. All this time, he and his family continued to write appeals to the military commissariat, the prosecutor's office and other bodies.
Maxim recalls that the most important document that he managed to get was a response to his wife’s first appeal with the results of the prosecutor’s check, which stated that violations were indeed committed during the mobilization measures: in particular, the procedure for serving the summons was violated, and also a medical examination was carried out. But at the same time, the prosecutor's office noted that, according to the law, Maxim is still a serviceman, since both those who served and those who did not serve are subject to mobilization:
“We filed a lawsuit, but the court did not see any violations during my mobilization. By the way, the case was considered at lightning speed: we filed an application on December 21, and the meeting took place on the 23rd. There were only five days to appeal, but we did not appeal, because the lawyer with whom we worked at that time said that it did not make sense.
Now Maxim understands that it was worth trying to challenge this decision.
In December, Maxim applied for an alternative service, and now he is very sorry that he did not do it earlier – because of the stressful situation, it was not easy to think about everything at once:
“In my application to the ACS, I wrote that military service is contrary to my beliefs, that I cannot kill people and cannot learn to kill people. As it turned out, I was assigned to a repair platoon, but even this does not suit me – after all, there I will have to repair missile systems, which will then kill people.
Since the end of December, Maxim has been in a military unit. Arriving there, he submitted a report to the military medical commission (VVK) against the background of an anxiety-depressive disorder that began to manifest itself after mobilization: “The report was satisfied: the psychologist in the unit conducted a study that confirmed that I have a disorder and did not recommend me military service with weapons. I was referred to a psychiatrist in a military unit, but he, despite all the documents that were provided to him, declared that I was healthy. I asked him how he would sleep if he sent me to serve, and I did something with myself or with someone else. He said he would sleep well."
The psychiatrist in the military unit said that I was healthy, despite the medical documents
The psychiatrist recommended to observe Maxim in the military unit, to have conversations with him, but none of this, according to Maxim, happened. On the recommendation of this doctor, the mobilized was sent to a military hospital for inpatient treatment, where he spent 39 days:
“I was admitted to the psycho-neurological department, but I also had other illnesses – kidney stones, stomach problems, and so on. I had several surgeries. After that, the doctor issued a verdict that I was on the mend, and as a result, they gave me category B – that is, fit with minor restrictions. Despite the fact that I also have a vision of minus five, but this does not bother anyone – there was not even an entry in the medical record about this. In general, there is a strict ban on handing over medical records, but I managed to look into it and take a picture.”
While Maxim was in the hospital, he received an answer to a request for alternative civilian service: he was told that during mobilization it was not available – it was not allowed: “Upon returning to the unit, the commander decided to immediately send me to a permanent deployment point, despite the recommendations of a psychiatrist: with a psychologist and psycho-correctional conversations. Maxim again refused to go until the commander essentially considered the report to the ACS, but he sent the mobilized to the FSB colonel, who was in this unit:
“He bugged me for an hour: he was also very interested that I was from Luhansk. He asked if I was a sent Cossack, why I didn’t want to go to war, he also said that there was no ACS, slipped me documents about criminal cases initiated against people who refused to go. At that time, my wife and I had already decided that if I was not given the ACS, I would still refuse to go, and if they initiate a criminal case, I would sit down, serve my term, but I would not participate in the murder, I would not kill myself people, or somehow contribute to this.
The commander slipped me documents about criminal cases initiated against people who refuse to go
Maxim recalls that his anti-war convictions were finally formed when he was in the hospital along with other military personnel – contract soldiers and mobilized, wounded after participating in hostilities. After listening to what was happening in the war, Maxim realized that he did not want to participate in this even indirectly. “I knew that my unit was actually no longer on the territory of Russia – it was already near Kremennaya, 20 kilometers from the line of contact. They just wanted to send me out of the unit in a fraudulent way in order to get rid of me.
They tried several times to send Maxim to another unit, closer to the border, but each time he refused to go. Once he was told that a criminal case would be opened against him:
“Now I am in a military unit, they dressed me in a military uniform – they didn’t let me walk in civilian clothes. I live among conscripts, sit on the hotline, receive calls from the wives of contract soldiers and mobilized — I answer various questions: where are their husbands, sons, children. Whether they are alive, whether they are healthy, whether they receive money. I work with another mobilized — day after day.”
Maxim says that he thought about leaving Russia, but in this case he will never be able to return – the criminal cases will not disappear anywhere:
“Here is my home, my family, here I have everything. The war had already forced me to move once, in June 2014, when the war in Donbass began. Then within a month I took my mother, sister and grandmother from there. We thought it was temporary, but it only got worse and worse, and after a couple of months we realized that there was no going back and we had to start life anew. For 10 years I tried to somehow get on my feet, start not to exist, but to live, and that’s just the beginning to work out … "
There were moments when hands dropped, Maxim recalls. But now he and his wife challenge literally every decision they receive and fight for every nuance: “Lost? Nothing, we go to the next instance. You must never give up, you must fight to the end. If they don't give ACS, I'll sit down. I accepted it, I understand my risks completely, but it's better than being involved in what's going on."
Option 3: End up in a mental hospital
“If you fail a psychological test, they will force you to rewrite”
Yevgeny from Kursk decided to come to the military enlistment office for a military ID, because he knew about several of his diseases at once, because of which he could not be called up, but he ended up first in a military unit, and later in a psychiatric hospital: “I didn’t have a summons, but there is flat feet, a hernia with curvature of the spine and hypertension. So I decided to get a military man. And he was very stupid."
Then Eugene was recovering from "problems with nerves", because of which he even had to quit. About six months passed from that moment, and the situation began to improve, and Evgeny began to go to interviews in search of a new job. In early April, Yevgeny came to the military registration and enlistment office, provided documents, passed the commission, which put him in the B category. relaxed, I thought that since the summons had already been issued the next day, it means that they should not do anything.
В областном военкомате Евгений еще раз предоставил копии всех документов. Он вспоминает, что комиссия шла очень долго — примерно шесть-семь часов, а врачи «как-то очень подозрительно бегали», а потом якобы ушли на перерыв. Через пару часов вышла врач из городского военкомата, которая всех сопровождала, и сказала, что Евгению надо подняться на третий этаж, где отменяют повестки. Когда он поднялся, то увидел там военную полицию. Евгения завели в кабинет главы военкомата и сказали, что теперь он годен и должен подписать повестку, и это обязательно:
«Военная полиция начала тыкать мне какими-то бумажками непонятными — типа меня иначе посадят. Я отказывался-отказывался, но в итоге подписал повестку, потому что там давление сильное было. Со мной было еще девять человек. Знаю, что один повестку вообще не подписал, он подписал отказ от подписания повестки. Нас всех потащили сдавать отпечатки, на выдачу вещей. Всё это время с нами ходила военная полиция — нельзя было ни отойти в сторону, ни убежать — ничего».
Повестку выписали одним днем: в тот день Евгений пробыл в военкомате весь день, а примерно в 10 часов вечера мобилизованных погрузили в машину и отвезли в часть рядом с границей. В части начали обучение — курс молодого бойца — и предлагали подписать контракты. Евгений вспоминает, что новобранцам пообещали после присяги отправить их еще ближе к границе: «В части были люди, которые перемещались между частями. Они говорили, что там уже бомбят, и что мы, скорее всего, поедем как раз туда. Я жаловался на здоровье, но всем было плевать абсолютно. Было такое, что меня освобождали от постройки, но всё равно все начали беситься, мол, что ты косишь, ты какой-то плохой — возмущались очень сильно. Заставляли хоть чем-то заниматься, отправляли убираться в части. В какой-то момент я простыл, попросил таблетки, мне ответили, что если температуры нет, то им всё равно, что у меня насморк или горло болит».
В части говорили, что у границы уже бомбят, и что мы, скорее всего, поедем как раз туда
На фоне происходящего у Евгения начались проблемы с нервами. В первые дни его пребывания в части там проводили психологические тесты: «Я завалил эти тесты, и меня отправили к психиатру. Она, естественно, сказала, что я себе жизнь ломаю, все дела, выдала бумажку, сказала, что если готов пойти в психиатрическую больницу, то вот заявление — заполни и пойдешь». Ему поставили диагноз: депрессивное расстройство на фоне слабой адаптивности. Из этой части в больницу, помимо Евгения, отправили еще одного человека, который призывался вместе с ним. У того, по словам Евгения, камни в простате, гипертония, расстройства по линии психиатрии. Он тоже не прошел тесты.
Некоторых людей заставляли переписывать психологические тесты: «Командир нашего отряда поговорил с врачом и сказал, что плевать, сколько раз они будут валить эти тесты, их надо просить переписывать тесты до тех пор, пока они не сдадут. Я знаю, что люди раз 10 уже пересдавали тесты, и ничего».
Как рассказывали Евгению, его и второго мобилизованного якобы списали из части, но он в это не верит:
«Я общался с людьми, которые остались в части, они говорят, что в перекличках мы пока числимся, как и в списках, но вроде бы говорят, что из списков мы скоро уйдем. Те вещи, которые нам в части выдавали — камуфляж, белье — их у нас уже забрали».
В больнице примерно месяц будут подтверждать поставленный диагноз, а после Евгения отправят на военно-врачебную комиссию. По его подсчетам, до этого момента, скорее всего, пройдет два месяца: «В больнице ничего не происходит. Тишина полная, просто лежим на койках и всё. Холод, условия не особо приятные, мягко говоря, но не конец света».
Когда Евгений еще находился в части, его и других мобилизованных вызвали в кабинет к командиру и потребовали написать объяснительные — полностью описать ситуацию с военкоматом: «Он сказал, что какие-то разборки уже пошли внутренние, что фээсбэшники что-то проверяют. Позже до нас дошла информация, что на нашего военкома заводят уголовное дело за взятки».
Что советуют эксперты
Часто оспариванием призыва занимаются женщины — подруги, жены, матери мобилизованных, потому что мужчины «находятся в состоянии окаменелости от стресса», отмечает волонтер «Движения сознательных отказчиков» (ДСО): «Были случаи, когда ситуация дошла до того, что человека уже мобилизовали, мы составляли рапорт, и при определенной настойчивости были случаи, когда их отпускали. Конечно, было и такое, что не отпускали, но до сих пор есть люди, которые продолжают сидеть в части и не едут на войну. Были случаи, когда военнослужащие уходили из частей, было такое, что их родственники воровали, и правильно делали. В течение двух дней со дня самовольного оставления части нет состава преступления, это чистая дисциплинарка, с которой никто связываться не будет».
Самовольное оставление части на срок до двух дней — это дисциплинарное нарушение, с которым никто связываться не будет
За эти два дня эксперт рекомендует сделать три вещи:
- оформить доверенность на близких людей;
- сходить к психиатру и получить диагноз, чтобы был предмет для разговора на военно-врачебной комиссии. Речь идет о реальном диагнозе: «Многие мобилизованные от того шока, который они пережили, из-за того, что они долгое время находились в стрессе, получили различной тяжести расстройства», — поясняет волонтер;
- обратиться к следователю в следственный отдел и письменно изложить позицию: не можете вернуться в часть, потому что у вас такая позиция. Лучше идти с адвокатом, но если его нет, хотя бы с доверенным лицом. Следователь насчет проверку и направит заявителя на военно-врачебную комиссию.
«Расписание болезней составлено так, что мобилизованному очень тяжело комиссоваться. По призыву легко, а здесь это всё уже не работает. Но всё равно есть шанс отправиться на лечение или получить категорию В, а это нестроевая служба, и остаться в части. Я знаю, что таким образом люди как бы растворяются с радаров. Да, их не увольняют со службы, но и не отправляют на войну».
При мобилизации могут призывать с категориями годности к военной службе А, Б и В, фактически под мобилизацию попадают все мужчины от 27 до 50 лет, если это рядовые, и до 60, если это младшие офицеры, напомнил глава правозащитной группы «Гражданин. Армия. Право» Сергей Кривенко: «Первая волна призыва по мобилизации была в сентябре-октябре, потом она прекратилась, но мы все ожидаем вторую волну. Непонятно, когда она будет. Есть соображения, что она может быть летом, например, в августе-сентябре, но это просто соображения».
Он предупреждает, что в военкоматах обычно «давят на патриотизм»: «Ты что, не мужик, что ты бегаешь и уклоняешься», — также соблазняют деньгами и обманывают, говоря, что никакой АГС нет, и пугают уголовной ответственностью. Но важно понимать, что при мобилизации нет уголовной ответственности за уклонение, подчеркивает эксперт.