Time to read: 9 minutes(s)

Relatives of those mobilized are demanding that their fathers, husbands, and sons be brought home. They say they don't believe a new wave of mobilization is necessary.

Since early November, the voices of relatives of Russian mobilized soldiers have been loudly heard on social media. They're not even asking, but demanding, the return of their loved ones from the special operation, who have been in the trenches for nearly a year. Women and elderly people are writing to the State Duma, the Ministry of Defense, and the Presidential Administration. They're submitting requests to hold rallies, but are being denied. State media, they say, are bluntly declaring that they can't report on their situation.

On November 7, the wives of those mobilized attended a Communist Party rally in Moscow and stood alongside it in a picket line with posters reading "Time to go home" and "Justice is demobilization for those mobilized."

At the same time, concerns are being raised that if those who were partially mobilized last year are recalled from the combat zone, the authorities will need a new wave of mobilization. However, the relatives of those mobilized believe this is unnecessary.

One of the founders of the movement for the return of those mobilized, on condition of anonymity, agreed to tell NeMoskva her story and explain what those whose fathers, husbands, and sons were taken away last September are fighting for. We are publishing her monologue.

My husband, Maxim, is 35 years old. Before his mobilization, he was a simple worker at a precast concrete plant, a section foreman. When Vladimir Putin made his address on September 21st last year, we assumed he would be drafted because he held the rank of sergeant, and they needed sergeants. Then we got a call from a friend connected to the military recruitment office, who told us Maxim was on the draft list.

The summons did indeed arrive. It was September 27th. My husband immediately said, "I'm not going to hide. I'm going to defend the Motherland." But no one told us back then that it would be indefinite. At the military unit where he was assigned, the commanders assured him: three or four months, six months at most, and then he'd go home. But now they say that promise has no legal force, just words.

They didn't take him back to his unit for a long time. He only left on October 24th. By that time, we'd bought a lot of our own gear: clothes, a phone with a power bank, tactical gloves. I don't remember the whole list; he had a piece of paper from the military recruitment office with a list of what he needed to take. Once at the unit, they gave him some uniform, but it was three or four sizes too big.

He spent two months in training, until January. But they were trained, so to speak, only in inverted commas. They walked through the woods, listened to every rustle, and went to the firing range. But there weren't enough weapons for everyone to learn how to shoot. And sometimes they came to training for nothing.

Maxim had been a signalman during his conscription, but then they told him he'd be an artilleryman during the special operation. And, as far as I know, that's what happens most often with mobilized soldiers: their conscription specialty doesn't align with what they do on the front lines. They retrain you as quickly as possible.

"Communication is unpredictable. He might call every two or three days, then disappear for weeks. Artillery isn't exactly frontline, but they're rarely sent to the rear either. Essentially, he's on a two-on-two schedule now: his team is on duty at the gun for two days, their replacements are on duty for the other two."

Of course, they're scared. It's scary when you're constantly being visited by flying birds. But Maxim tries to keep quiet about it. In October, he came home on vacation for two weeks—the first time in a year. He was a completely different person, not the same one who left home last year. He was completely withdrawn, dull, tired, and didn't want to talk about what was going on. He said, "You don't need to know; you'll worry more."

He simply withdrew. He practically never went anywhere. He spent most of his time with the child. He said that during the first week, he couldn't get used to the pace of life, because he constantly had to do something "beyond the fence." I asked him, "Is it difficult for you to adapt here after the war?" He said, "It's very difficult, unusual. It's completely different." So, within a year, they had gotten used to life at war.

Then it was time to go back. It seemed to me that no one wanted to go back there. But my husband said, "If I don't go back, I'll let my kids down; they won't be able to come back for a vacation." So he went back. It's unclear when his next vacation is supposed to be.

I think he needs treatment. He already had chronic illnesses, and those conditions only made them worse. And, of course, he needs psychological help, because war leaves no end in PTSD.

Besides my husband, I have quite a few close childhood friends at the front, and I still keep in touch with them. They were also home on leave—most of them spent their days drinking. Some developed mental health issues: someone would jump to the ground, as if they were diving into a trench, while someone would set off fireworks. You could tell they were terrified. Looking at my husband and these guys, I realized they needed replacements. Especially since they all said winter was approaching, and winter at the front was very difficult: illness and cold added to the trench conditions. Another villager of mine came home on leave, drank heavily, then returned, and was soon brought back in a zinc coffin. That's when I decided we needed to start a movement to bring back our loved ones.

Relatives of other mobilized soldiers, whom we've naturally gotten to know over the past year, supported this idea. We simply can't stand by and watch what's happening to our husbands and sons.

This movement isn't about rotation, but about demobilization. We believe that those mobilized should be discharged from service in the armed forces. And there's no need for a new mobilization. Because the authorities say they've recruited 410 contract soldiers, and besides, there are career soldiers who chose this profession themselves, and there are a large number of paramilitary structures.

The "1%," as our relatives were called last year, won't last forever. It's becoming increasingly difficult for them [to fight] every day. Mistakes simply happen. The authorities say that fatigue isn't considered a significant factor—we heard this from some of the deputies we spoke to. But I think that when the guys mess up on the battlefield, it's because they've been sleeping for four hours a night for a year. And mistakes can be serious, even shooting at the wrong people. They shoot at each other because they're going crazy.

And many write to me about our guys, for example, pulling their arms out of the trenches to get wounded and simply rest. Some write, “I’m so tired. I wish something would hit us already. I already want to be either ‘200’ or ‘300’.” And that’s literally verbatim. And they also write, “I came home on leave and saw everyone walking around and rejoicing. And here we are… And yet no one supports us. They call us fools, suckers who fell for it and followed the summons. Or they say we went for the money, but we didn’t even think about that; nothing was said about a salary from the start. We thought we were going to protect everyone, but in the end, they turned us into slaves, simply betrayed us.”

Yes, they're not considered heroes. And they themselves still don't understand the goals of the special operation. Demilitarization and denazification are very vague concepts. And, in my opinion, neither has happened, and there are actually more weapons in Ukraine.

Of course, there are people in our movement with pacifist views. Basically, the same percentage as in the rest of the country. But we try not to quarrel over this, because we are working towards the same goal: bringing our men home.

Our movement currently numbers around 8 members. But there are also other groups of relatives of those mobilized who are working on their return home. Together, they number over 40.

We're currently coordinating rallies in support of those mobilized in various cities. And we've already received a refusal from Krasnoyarsk, citing alleged anti-COVID measures. Meanwhile, on November 4th, National Unity Day, mass events were held in the city. So, gatherings for holiday-related events are allowed, but not for ours?

We've appealed for help to the prosecutor's office, regional deputies, the State Duma, the Federation Council, and the Ministry of Defense. And in the State Duma, for example, they tell us, "Your question is solely within the president's authority." And in the presidential administration, they refer us to the Ministry of Defense. And the Ministry of Defense says, "Defending the Motherland is the constitutional duty of every citizen. They must fulfill it with dignity and responsibility." And they cite Presidential Decree No. 647, which lists the reasons for dismissal of a mobilized soldier: age, health, and the end of a special military operation.

At one point, we received assistance from State Duma deputies Dmitry Kuznetsov, Vasily Vlasov, and Denis Parfenov. They were the ones who proposed creating a working group on the return of mobilized soldiers home. But when a meeting with the deputies invited to this working group was about to take place, when the documents and proposals had already been prepared, Kartapolov said that the working group no longer existed, simply no longer existed. He said that this [discharge of mobilized soldiers] didn't happen in World War II. No one returned home; everyone fought to the end. That's his position. No matter how much we said that in World War II, everyone, young and old, fought and that the situation was completely different, it didn't move him.

But our husbands support us. They want to come back.

PS Commenting on the appeals of relatives of those mobilized for the RTVI television channel, member of the State Duma Defense Committee Viktor Sobolev said:

"To replace 300 men, we need to conduct another partial mobilization, right? The last time we mobilized, we called up 300, and 600 fled. Some say more, but 600 definitely fled. What has happened over the past year? Have we sharply increased the military-patriotic education of young people, so that they will come to the military recruitment offices themselves and form a line? I don't think so. <...> We constantly talk about defeating fascism. But no victory has ever been achieved through defense. We are currently on the defensive, repelling counteroffensives <...> Of course, we need to ensure contact with families. Right now, things aren't as smooth as we'd like. If we recruit enough contract volunteers to create an offensive force, and some of them have already signed contracts, then those who absolutely don't want to serve will eventually be replaced."