Yesterday, a short documentary surfaced on the internet, showing the activity in a Moscow recruiting station. Like most news in Russia, the story was probably a propaganda effort to assist the recruiting challenge. Nevertheless, the story had a pessimistic feel and looked like it was filmed by a local news station.
The video was shot at a hastily created recruiting site, in a building normally used as a theater. Because of the wartime footage, the film looks bleak. The young men were trying to be optimistic, but there was a heaviness in their solemn attitudes. Most looked young, but several of the men were older.
Most of the recruits were in uniform. Some were certainly old enough to have been in the military, perhaps reservists. However, the uniforms looked new and recently issued. No one claimed to have any military experience.
A Life Change – Overnight
Universally, all the men had received their draft notice the prior day, were now in uniform, and did not have enough time to say goodbye to loved ones. One young man stated he had only a father who lived in another part of the country and could not say goodbye. Moments later, having driven all night, his father arrived and provided a teary-eyed hug just as the recruit boarded the bus.
Several women were in the film assisting the effort. One was directing the recruits to various locations to signup and where they could get coffee or tea. One young man told the camera that he loved his country, his family, and he would not shun his duty to defend the motherland. Speaking critically of the war is a criminal offense, so it is hard to know how any of the recruits really feel.
A heavy-set Captain asked the women how many recruits they had processed that day, with one indicating around a 100. He then looked around the room at the men and said they had their uniforms, they had been processed, and now it was time to go.
One young man in the film stated that he had been officially told that they would receive no additional training and were heading to the war. The weapons being provided to the draftees in the film looked old and rusty. These are the men that are replacing the tens of thousands that have died so far in this terrible war.
An Unnecessary Recruiting Effort
The tragedy did not start here in the recruiting station. These young men, as optimistic as they are, do not need to die for the Ukrainian War effort. Russia’s President Putin has been charged with a multitude of mistakes and miscalculations regarding the war and it appears to be far from over.
With the latest decision to call up 300,000 men for the war effort, Putin is losing the support of Russian citizens. For those who understand the war, many already disagree. However, the number of dissenters in Russia is growing for several reasons.
First, it is believed that in Moscow alone, 300,000 men have left the city to avoid the draft. The diminishing Russian male population is due to the common belief that there will be a tremendous number of casualties for service members in the war. For almost every departure, someone or a group of people have encouraged their exit.
Second, protesters can be found on the streets. Protesting is risky business and most are being rounded up, beaten, and quickly found guilty of crimes against the state. The rough handling of demonstrators is shown on TV and in propaganda film clips. However, the protestors have sympathetic friends and family who are losing faith in the Kremlin policies.
Finally, those who are losing loved ones to the war are certainly questioning Moscow’s decisions for the invasion.
On October 15, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated almost 65,000 Russians have died in the war, with British press stating around 55,000 Russian soldiers have perished. Recently, Sergey Shoigu, Russian Defense Minister stated that Russian losses were 5,937 dead.
Summing up during his press conference last week, President Zelensky stated, “So many citizens of Russia gave their lives for the possibility of a handful of people in the Kremlin to ignore reality,” adding that not even the deaths of 100,000 Russians will “prompt the Kremlin to think a little bit.”
