Hunt for men in military age starts in Murmansk region

Hundreds of Russian soldiers are reportedly killed or wounded in the war against Ukraine every day. Thousands of contract warriors and volunteers from different structures of the Northern Fleet are among those dead and buried. Especially the 200th Motorized Brigade in Pechenga near the border with Norway has lost huge numbers of soldiers.  

Although new conscripts were assured they would not be sent to the frontlines in occupied Ukraine, multiple reports tell about many being pressured to sign up as soon as the basic training is done.

Like every spring, the Russian ruler this March signed a decree to enrol new conscripts. 150,000 this time, the decree signed by Putin says. That is up 20,000 from the 130,000 called on last autumn.

Not all are coming voluntarily. 

Military officers this week appeared on street corners in the Russian north stopping young men. In Aleksandrovsk, a closed navy town north of Murmansk, representatives from the Investigative Committee of the Northern Fleet entered cafés, cantinas and shops checking ID-documents.

According to regional news online B-Port, the investigators were especially interested in non-ethic Russians, men that just recently have received Russian citizenship.

Investigators check ID-papers of young men they find in abandoned buildings. Photo: Military Investigation Department / Northern Fleet

The Barents Observer has previously reported about loads of workers from Central-Asian, former Soviet republics, being employed at the shipyard in Aleksandrovsk and at Novatek’s Kola Yard in Belokamenka.

According to the Northern Fleet’s investigators, many of them have not completed their military registration. People stopped were also informed about options to enrol to the armed forces under contract.

Almost three dozen of men migrants were checked and sent to the military commissariat, according to news online Severpost. One man from Moldova, who recently received Russian citizenship, allegedly agreed to sign a contract to participate in the war against Ukraine.

Northern Fleet newspaper Na Zhdrashiye Zapolyariya last week posted pictures on Vkontakte of young men from the Arkhangelsk region being enlisted to service in Severomorsk.