Vladimir Podkovyrkin, a resident of Sursk in Russia’s Penza region, told Mediazona that on November 24, 2025, he was stopped on the street by a local police officer and a man who introduced himself as a military enlistment office employee. According to Podkovyrkin, he was told he urgently needed to go to the enlistment office supposedly to be registered for military records, after which he was taken to Penza, to a contract service recruitment center on Belinsky Street.
There, Podkovyrkin says, his phone, passport, and military ID were taken away, and he was led into a separate office. He says an employee pressured him to sign documents, describing them as a mere formality for registration, while the forms themselves, according to him, were blank. After he signed, he says he was told:
“Congratulations, you’re going to the special military operation.”
Podkovyrkin said there were already about 20 people in the yard, many of whom, he says, also did not understand what was happening. That evening they were put into a vehicle and sent to Rostov. The man says he had never served in the military and had never undergone a medical examination, yet his personal file already stated that he was fully fit for service and that the contract was for one year.
After two weeks of training, Podkovyrkin says he was sent on a combat mission in the self-proclaimed DPR as part of an assault group. He said his partner was seriously wounded and was not evacuated, and that he himself was later wounded in the leg by a drone and lost part of his toes. He spent about one and a half months in a hospital and still limps. Later, he says, another serviceman with him was killed in a drone strike.
After leave granted because of his injury, Podkovyrkin says he developed severe heart pain in March 2026. In a military hospital he was diagnosed with coronary heart disease, angina, and hypertension. According to him, his condition worsened after discharge, but a civilian hospital and a cardiology center refused to provide full treatment, citing his status as a participant in the war.
On March 16, 2026, Podkovyrkin filed a complaint with the Penza region branch of Russia’s Investigative Committee, demanding an inquiry into what he described as his abduction and forced deployment to the front. Investigator Aksyonov’s reply arrived on June 10; it said the Defense Ministry contract had been signed voluntarily after professional screening, psychological evaluation, a military medical commission, and a personal interview. Podkovyrkin says he received similar responses from the military prosecutor’s office and the regional human rights ombudsman.