Threats, beatings and criminal cases: how the Kremlin is forcing Russians to war

Facing a shortage of volunteers, Russian authorities are increasingly resorting to coercive methods to send citizens to fight in Ukraine. According to The Wall Street Journal, military enlistment offices, together with police, detain men on the streets and exert pressure. Financial payments have stopped attracting recruits due to high losses. Analysts expect a new wave of mobilization after the elections in September 2026.

Russian authorities are facing a shortage of volunteers and are resorting to harsh measures to replenish the army. According to The Wall Street Journal, the declining effectiveness of financial incentives and the slowdown of the army's advance are forcing military enlistment offices to use forceful seizures of men of conscription age. Human rights activists, lawyers, and eyewitnesses report that in small towns, recruiters with police detain people on the streets, at their workplaces, or under the guise of document checks, then exert physical and psychological pressure. Financial payments for contracts, exceeding the average annual salary, have stopped attracting recruits due to high sanitary and irreversible losses and the growing capabilities of the Ukrainian army. Regional authorities have begun paying bonuses for attracting others; a system of 'referral payments' has been recorded in Tatarstan, Kaluga, Voronezh, Yaroslavl, and Amur regions. Those unwilling to sign documents are threatened with criminal prosecution or planted drugs. Analysts and American officials believe that forceful roundups herald a new round of official mobilization; a decision may be made after the parliamentary elections in September 2026. Military experts note that if aggressive goals in Donetsk and Luhansk regions continue, the authorities will have no other resource than a new wave of mobilization.