On March 5, 2022, Vladimir Putin declared that in the “special operation” in Ukraine “only officers and professional soldiers take part”. He assures that “there is not even a conscript” in the war. Putin thanks the volunteers who showed up at the military enlistment office, but says “their help is not yet needed.” Half a year later, in September, however, Putin announces the mobilization. Russia is under attack from the “collective West” and who, if not men, must defend the country and all the values that Russia keeps alive, at the cost of blood, for future generations?
Russian men are beginning to take the path of exile. Who can and where can.
On Tuesday, April 11, the State Duma took another step towards a dystopian future: it unanimously approved a package of amendments that radically complicate the “avoidance” of military service. In the new text, among other things, it is stipulated that the summons can be sent in electronic form – on the State Services portal, and those who will not respond to the “invitation” will be deprived of a number of rights, including the right to leave the country .
Russian (opposition) news site “Meduza” to the question “Should I leave Russia right now?” (If I have even a theoretical possibility – and I don’t want to fight) gave a short answer, on a red background with red letters: “Yes”, with the note that the probability of the Russian authorities forcibly recruiting people to be sent to war is extremely of the sea
“It is obvious that the state treats you like meat, which must fill the Ukrainian redoubts. Staying in Russia now, unfortunately, is a direct danger of becoming this flesh at any moment. No one can protect you anymore,” wrote Ilya Krasilshchik, media manager and former editor of Meduza, on the day the amendments were adopted.
One effect of Moldova’s poverty was the massive export of cannon fodder. Moldovans who have become Russian citizens are settled in Russia. Some of them are still young, fit for battle. Many have sons, also capable of fighting. These people, headed for a life they hoped would be better, are now faced with choices they never imagined. Although, being able to choose is also a privilege in today’s Russia that few have.
These men are also ours. They have relatives, parents, loved ones left in Moldova, for whom the decisions of the Russian president take on a very personal meaning, affecting their lives directly. Our relationship with the war in Uciana has many faces. Here is one, into whose eyes we have avoided looking until now.
