Russia toughens the punishment for soldiers who surrender voluntarily, and those who refuse to fight. The dismissal of the Deputy Minister of Defense, protests continue.
– We are not cannon fodder! A young woman climbed onto a bench screamed before police drove her away when they stopped a demonstration in Moscow on Saturday.
Tougher laws on deserters and others go into effect just days after President Vladimir Putin ordered the partial mobilization of reservists for the war in Ukraine.
The purpose of the Russian mobilization is to strengthen the Russian army which is waging a war of conquest in neighboring Ukraine.
Putin hopes to mobilize 300,000 reservists, and Wednesday’s order sparked demonstrations across Russia. Many have also chosen to leave the country in recent days. The deputy defense minister, who was replaced on Saturday, wrote responsible for the Russian army’s logistics delays in the Ukraine war. BBC.
Mariupol Experience
General and Deputy Defense Minister Dmitry Bulgakov has been in charge of logistics since the invasion on February 24. Recent reconquests in Ukraine have exposed weaknesses in the Russian war, and some analysts believe logistics in particular are a weakness.
The Ministry of Defense in Moscow announced that Colonel Mikhail Mezintsev would replace Bulgakov. Mizintsev was responsible for Russia’s violent siege of the port city of Mariupol.
2300 cars at the border crossing
Partial mobilization of Russia is likely to be the first major challenge for Mizintsev as head of logistics. Hundreds of thousands of reservists will be mobilized, and they need equipment and training before they are sent to the front.
Most Russian men between the ages of 18 and 65 are automatically considered reservists.
But many men of fighting age do not want to fight in the neighboring country. There were full-fledged flights from Russia, and many of them flowed across the border into the neighboring country. On the border with Georgia, 2,300 private cars waited Saturday night to cross one of the border crossings from Russia, according to Russian regional authorities.
Demonstrations
On the same day, more than 700 people were arrested in connection with peaceful demonstrations against Putin’s mobilization order, according to OVD-Info. Among them were more than 300 in Moscow and about 150 in St. Petersburg.
The protest in Moscow had been announced in advance, and a large team of police attended and arrested those deemed suspicious.
– We are not cannon fodder! A young woman climbed onto a bench screamed before the police drove him away.
In Novosibirsk, eastern Siberia, more than 70 people were arrested after they sang a harmless peace song from the Soviet era.
Looting and refusing orders
The laws Putin has now signed were approved by the Russian National Assembly earlier this week. This means that soldiers who desert, surrender “without consent,” refuse to fight, or defy orders can be punished with up to ten years in prison. Looting can result in prison sentences of up to 15 years.
Foreigners who have served at least one year in the Russian army are entitled to apply for citizenship. Thus, they waive the five-year residency requirement.
It seems that the purpose of this change in the law is to attract migrant workers from Central Asia to the Russian army. Many of them work in difficult and poorly paid jobs in Russia.
Moscow’s mayor said on Tuesday that a military recruitment office would open at the Sakharovo Migrant Center, which is visited by many migrants.
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