According to human rights activists in Russian prisons, volunteers are being specifically sought for Moscow’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The Russian civil rights activist Olga Romanowa, who lives in Berlin, reported on Facebook that suspects and accused were also recruited with the promise that in return the criminal proceedings would be dropped. There are examples from detention centers in the Moscow region. “But I think it started everywhere,” writes Romanova, who is considered a respected expert on prisoner’s rights in Russia.
There is no general mobilization in Russia for the war in Ukraine, which has been going on for almost half a year. That is why the army and President Vladimir Putin depend on volunteers. A sign of a shortage of personnel at the front is that the authorities in many regions have started using street advertising to promote a mission in Ukraine.