Forced recruitment near Moscow?
Russian security forces surround mosque
November 18, 2023, 8:19 p.m
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It is not known exactly how many Russian soldiers Vladimir Putin has already burned to death in his attack on Ukraine. But for his invasion, the Kremlin chief needs a constant supply of cannon fodder for the front. Near Moscow, security forces apparently select devout Muslims.
Russian security forces have raided visitors to a mosque in Balashikha in the Moscow region. The independent Russian-language online newspaper Novaya Gazeta Europe reports from her exile in Latvia that armed units without identifying signs surrounded the mosque on Friday around 1:30 p.m., i.e. after the end of Friday prayers. The documents of everyone who left the mosque were then checked. Some believers were reportedly arrested.
At the same time, a special bus is said to have pulled up to the mosque. It is believed that the arrested mosque visitors were driven to the Russian army recruiting center. When asked, an armed security guard said that the raid was a joint operation by the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB, the Interior Ministry and the public prosecutor’s office.
The imam of the mosque in Balashikha confirmed that there was a raid after Friday prayers on Friday, according to Novaya Gazeta Europe. According to him, during the search, some believers were offered to serve in the army. He couldn’t say how many people were taken by the bus.
Not an isolated case
According to the report, this was not the only such action in Balashikha in recent days. On November 15, nationalist youth movements, together with security forces, were said to have carried out similar raids on migrants in a city market square and a factory. Several people are said to have been arrested there and put on buses.
In the city of Kotelniki, which is also in Moscow Oblast, there was a raid on the local mosque at the end of October. According to Novaya Gazeta Europa, those arrested were sent to the army the same day. Accordingly, the Russian Interior Ministry had previously ordered 15,000 migrants to be expelled or deported from Russia. In many cases, however, they are probably handed over to the military as new recruits.
According to Ukrainian figures, more than 300,000 Russian soldiers have been injured or killed in the attack on Ukraine since the Russian invasion began. In its search for new recruits, the Kremlin has not shied away from forced recruitment or recruitment under false pretenses for many months: among other things, a smuggling network is said to have lured several hundred Cubans to Russia, only to send them to the front a short time later. Also raids to specifically Migrants from Central Asian countries are now obviously part of everyday life.