A resident of a village in Russia’s Amur Region was detained on his way to a store, beaten and forced to sign a contract with the Defense Ministry, according to his relatives and the Movement of Conscientious Objectors.
According to the rights group, on June 18 the man was stopped by a police patrol. His family says he was pushed into a car without explanation, beaten and taken to an unknown location. For several days, his relatives did not know where he was.
Later, the family learned that by June 24 he had been forced to sign the contract. He is now reportedly listed as serving in a military unit in another region.
The Movement of Conscientious Objectors says he was taken away wearing shorts, without personal belongings or a phone. The next day, according to the family, documents disappeared from his home. Rights advocates also note that he lived alone, had recently lost both parents and abused alcohol.
The family has filed a complaint with the military prosecutor’s office. According to relatives, the head of the local rural administration pointed him out to the security forces. Rights advocates claim that authorities pay 200,000 rubles for each person they manage to register as a contract soldier.
The group links this case to a broader pattern. Earlier, on June 18, reports emerged of raids in Penza, Kamenka and Kuznetsk where, according to rights advocates, security forces and military enlistment office staff were coercing men into signing contracts. Police said at the time that such roundups were “planned in nature and are periodically conducted in the region.”