Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Russia is reportedly creating 'Kursk battalions' of newly enlisted conscripts, many of whom are barely trained teenagers paid only $0.75 a day, are being sent to Kursk to fight the Ukrainian incursion. Some are being forced to sign contracts to fight at the front lines. ⬇️

2/ According to the Russian news outlets ASTRA and 'Beware, News', conscripts serving with the 80th Motorised Rifle Division based near Murmansk are being prepared for a "business trip" to the Kursk region.

3/ A similar "trip" is reportedly being organised in the Irkutsk region. Conscripts who were drafted in the spring of 2024 have told relatives that they will be sent to the Kursk and Belgorod regions to defend the border. They will replace conscripts who are already there.

4/ The conscripts are being moved urgently due to the situation in Kursk. One man from Ufa was called up for military service in early June, but is being sent to Kursk without finishing his training. Another has served for only a month but is being sent to Belgorod soon.

5/ According to their relatives, the Russian army is stonewalling enquiries. "There was no opportunity to talk to the higher command of the unit, they refuse to communicate with the parents. The phone [numbers] are hidden and are not given to the parents."

6/ Parents are demanding that their sons not be sent to the Kursk region, where fighting is ongoing. However, although Russian law prohibits sending conscripts abroad, they are not prohibited from participating in conflict within Russia's territory, as at Kursk.

7/ "Officially, everything is legal," says Marina, the mother of one conscript. "The only thing is that there is a special operation on the territory of the Russian Federation now, and maybe the guys won't be sent there."

8/ "After all, the president himself always says that conscripts won't serve in the Special Military Operation zone. We're praying."

However, conscripts who are already serving in the Kursk region are not only engaged in fighting but are being forced to go back into battle.

9/ After some conscripts who were serving in Kursk were taken to a "safe place" by commanders after Ukrainian forces invaded, they are reportedly being threatened with long prison sentences if they do not sign contracts transferring them to the regular army.

10/ According to Tatyana, the mother of one conscript from Perm, "they took my son's phone, he called yesterday from someone else's number. He says they are forcing him to go back [to the front line] or go to a punishment battalion for 7 years."

11/ Another conscript's mother, Darya from Tobolsk, says: "Our commanders tell us this: 'Since they took the oath, they must defend the Motherland.' But what kind of warriors are they at 18-19 years old?!"

12/ "They don't understand the seriousness of it, they don't realize that they have to kill there and they themselves can die!"

13/ A third mother, Yuliya, says that "the military prosecutor's office forced them to return to their positions, but the boys flatly refused. Now they are in Kursk, in a military unit."

14/ "They want to send them to the third echelon of defence behind the assault groups in the Kursk region."

"My son called, they were told: you'll go anyway", says Elena, another of the mothers. "But now we'll pay you combat pay."

15/ "We'll prepare you a little and you'll go after the stormtroopers. And if you don't agree, you'll either go to court or you'll go [to fight] anyway, you won't get away from it."

16/ She says that the army is "trying to put moral pressure on them, they're trying to brainwash them and send our children to that hole."

17/ Marina says that conscripts "are being persuaded because [the army] needs to gather a certain number of people to bring them back.

"They say you will be members of the Special Military Operation, they are persuading you. My son told me about this half an hour ago.

18/ "He says that there are about 150 conscripts there now – those who are selected, who succeed, are coming. Namely, children who were in the Kursk region."

19/ She criticises the army for failing to give them any combat training. "If you wanted them to defend the borders, then why didn't you prepare them? Why did he then carry shells for six months, and then dig trenches for six months?"

20/ "Conscripts are not entitled to anything for injuries or, God forbid, death. Contract soldiers are entitled to payments. But we don't need any money, as long as the guys are safe," says Marina.

21/ She says that they are paid only 2,000 rubles a month ($22.70, or $0.75 a day), "even if they shoot down drones on the border with machine guns." Conscripts who serve in safe regions receive the same payments.

22/ Around 9,000 people have signed a petition asking Putin to withdraw their sons from guarding the border in Kursk. It was started by Oksana Deeva, whose son is fighting in Korenevo – said to be facing a Ukrainian encirclement. Writing on , she says:Change.org

23/ "We, the mothers of conscripts, ask you to remove the conscripts from the areas of military action. They have no experience in fighting back, no weapons. A full-scale offensive is underway on our territory today.

24/ "Save the lives of soldiers who are not prepared for military action. You promised your parents that they would not participate in military action!!!! We believe in you. We ask you to take a serious look at the current situation. We are Patriots!!!

25/ "Our sons and each of their lives will still be useful for creating a strong state. But there is enough strength from more experienced military personnel. We ask you to save the lives of the boys. We trust you. Every mother who sent her son to the border will sign my words.

26/ "Hear us!!!! See the conscripts, please!!!!!"

Like other "appeals to the Tsar" during this war, it's unlikely that this petition will have any effect. /end

Sources:
🔹
🔹
🔹
🔹
🔹
🔹
🔹 t.me/astrapress/618…
t.me/astrapress/619…
t.me/ostorozhno_nov…
t.me/Baikal_People/…
t.me/Baikal_People/…
verstka.media/kurskaya-oblas…
change.org/p/%D0%BC%D0%B0…