Russia Accused of Coercing Men into Military Service Amid Recruitment Slowdown

Russia is increasingly pressuring men into military service as voluntary recruitment slows, with military recruiters and police in some regions allegedly detaining men and coercing them into signing contracts to fight in Ukraine, according to The Wall Street Journal. The WSJ reported that the recruitment campaign has included men being stopped on streets, outside workplaces or during purported document checks and taken to military recruitment offices. Lawyers, rights activists and people who witnessed the incidents told the newspaper that some men were threatened or beaten until they agreed to enlist. The campaign echoes Russia’s 2022 partial mobilisation, when President Vladimir Putin ordered hundreds of thousands of reservists into the military after Russian forces suffered major manpower shortages. Unlike that mobilisation, however, the current recruitment drive remains officially voluntary.

Alleged coercion in Russian regions

In Penza, recruiters and law-enforcement officials have reportedly used aggressive tactics to pressure men into military service. The WSJ cited a local resident, who said an acquaintance was summoned to a police station in May under the pretext of checking his personal details before being taken to a recruitment office. The resident alleged that the man was beaten on his liver and kidneys by military recruiters and that he intervened before the man could be sent for a medical examination. Videos showing recruitment raids in Penza have circulated online, including footage outside a recruitment office in which women were seen crying as men sat inside a military van. Russian authorities have denied that such operations are being used to send men to the front and warned that people spreading what officials call false information could face legal consequences. The WSJ also reported that some regional programmes offer people money for bringing potential recruits to military recruitment centres. In Penza, blogger Stanislav Morozov said advertisements offered 100,000 rubles, about $1,300, to anyone who brought a friend to a recruitment office. Similar schemes have reportedly operated in other Russian regions.

Recruitment pressure grows as losses mount

The pressure comes as Russia seeks to replenish its forces after heavy losses in Ukraine. Military analysts cited by the WSJ estimated Russian casualties at around 30,000 to 40,000 killed and wounded a month, though the report did not present that figure as an independently verified count. Grigory Sverdlin, founder of the antiwar organisation Get Lost, said the fewer Russians willing to voluntarily sign military contracts, the greater the pressure authorities would have to apply to bring people into service. The WSJ reported that US officials believe the recruitment efforts have added some troops to Russia's forces but not enough to produce a major breakthrough. Washington officials have also said the Kremlin is considering another round of mobilisation, potentially after Russia's parliamentary elections scheduled for September 20. A fresh mobilisation could carry significant political risks for Putin, particularly after the backlash over the 2022 call-up. The WSJ cited Russian defence analyst Ruslan Pukhov as saying Putin could face little choice but to mobilise more men if he remains committed to capturing all of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. The potential pool could also be less prepared than in 2022, with another mobilisation likely to draw in men with limited military experience.