1/ Relatives of Russian conscripts accuse the Russian military of forging contracts to convert their sons into contract soldiers who can be sent to fight in Ukraine. They say that the military is showing no interest in repatriating many conscripts captured in the Kursk region. ⬇️ 
2/ Oknopress reports on the cases of conscripts who were taken prisoner in August 2024 during Ukraine's Kursk offensive. 23-year-old Alexei Kirinin from Syktyvkar was conscripted in November 2023 and was sent to the border at Kursk to work on communications infrastructure.
3/ Alexei's mother lost contact with him after 6 August. His sister says that "the unit commanders then told the parents that all the conscripts were being evacuated and that they would soon be in touch. But it turned out that this was not so... That it was a lie."
4/ The family learned in September that Alexei and many of his comrades had been taken captive and were being held as prisoners of war in Ukraine. However, they were told that he had signed a contract a few days before the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk.
5/ "The unit suddenly announced that he was a contract soldier, not a conscript. Allegedly since 3 August. And his mother called him on the 4th! He didn’t sign anything!
6/ "In short, they are lying and getting confused – at first they said that he would be released in the order of his turn. Now they are saying that Ukraine allegedly doesn’t want to give him back. Of course, they are pulling the wool over our eyes as best they can.
7/ "We are still in shock. We know for sure that Lesha didn’t sign anything. He was getting ready to go home, he was counting the days until demobilization with us!"
Alexei's sister says the army is refusing to provide a copy of the contract.
Alexei's sister says the army is refusing to provide a copy of the contract.
8/ "Oh, they were feeding us such nonsense – like, we found out late [about the signed contract], because the contracts were there with the commanders near the border. And then the border was breached and everyone had “more important things to do”.
9/ "And then a month later these contracts allegedly reached the main unit… We said – show us the contract, Leshin! We’ll make sure the signature wasn’t forged. They refused! But we’re sure there was no contract.
10/ "It’s some kind of setup, to come up with something like this retroactively."
11/ She says that the army does not seem to be interested in exchanging Alexei for Ukrainian POWs. "Apparently, the relatives of all the conscripts pressed them, and they either have no one to exchange them for or it’s not profitable… I don’t know, I can only guess."
12/ "But we’re not the only ones, many conscripts from his company remain in captivity. And he’s been there for three months already."
Roza Zykova from Voronezh says that her son Volodya is in a similar situation.
Roza Zykova from Voronezh says that her son Volodya is in a similar situation.
13/ She worries that "two months have passed and there have been no new exchanges. I don’t understand why everyone suddenly forgot about our captive children? Why did they stop talking about our children? How are they worse than those who were exchanged?!"
14/ "Are we really second-class people?! I want to see my son soon!"
15/ Families have reported that their relatives have been forced to sign contracts under duress from army and FSB officers, who have been telling repatriated conscripts that the 'sin' of being captured "can only be washed away with blood" and that their service is being extended.
16/ Anastasia from Tomsk says that her son Dima has been held near Moscow for 'FSB verification' ever since he was repatriated. She says that he has been told that "he will serve until demobilisation, and he is not entitled to leave."
17/ "And that he is currently undergoing a check-up and medical examination. But no one knows how long this check-up will last. They hardly let you call, very rarely. It is very cold where they live. And all this against the backdrop of constant pressure to sign a contract.
18/ "And they were also told at the unit that the time in captivity and in that place near Moscow where they are now being checked will not be counted as the length of service! They say that they will have to “serve out”. But this is some kind of nonsense!
19/ "They are simply increasing the time to continue to scare the boys and force them to sign a contract."
As discussed in the thread below, conscripts have also been threatened with beatings and imprisonment if they do not sign contracts.
As discussed in the thread below, conscripts have also been threatened with beatings and imprisonment if they do not sign contracts.
https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1839004051033239807
20/ Elsewhere, it appears that the Russian military may have been forging conscripts' signatures on contracts. Families of conscripts from Chelyabinsk have reported receiving enlistment bonus payments from the Tatarstan government, despite no contracts having been signed.
21/ 20-year-old Igor from Chelyabinsk, who is serving with a medical battalion, unexpectedly received a 305,000 ruble ($3,144) bonus payment from the Ministry of Social Labor of the Republic of Tatarstan after he was told that his name had appeared in a contract order.
22/ According to his mother, he denies signing anything. She says: "I think they should conduct a handwriting examination. I wrote a statement to the prosecutor's office, but they said that they would consider the statement within a month, and they could send our guys somewhere."
23/ Another two conscripts serving with the same unit say they received not only the Tatarstan payment, but a 400,000 ruble ($4,123) enlistment payment from the Russian Ministry of Defence. They also deny having signed anything, but say they were put under pressure to do so. /end
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