Russian security forces and military enlistment officers are carrying out coordinated street raids across the Penza region to force local men into signing military contracts to fight in the war against Ukraine, according to exiled Russian media and anti-war groups.
Idite Lesom, a non-profit organization that helps Russian men avoid military service, said it was contacted by several people in the city of Penza and nearby towns who described men being “rounded up indiscriminately.” Witnesses reported that law enforcement authorities were stopping cars and public transportation, detaining men and taking them away.
The exiled news outlet Mediazona said it verified the location of a Penza enlistment office in a widely circulated video on social media, which showed women crying and accusing men in uniform of physically assaulting their relatives who were placed in a minibus.
At least 20 people have reportedly been detained across Penza and the nearby towns of Kamenka and Kuznetsk. Some residents told exiled Russian media that the raids appeared to target “draft dodgers” who had previously ignored military summonses.
The Moscow Times could not independently verify those reports.
