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In the quasi-republic of the DPR, servicemen of the 3rd Battalion of the 105th People’s Militia Rifle Regiment have accused Denis Pushilin, the head of the statelet, of forcibly mobilizing them and deceitfully sending them to Mariupol in a collective video statement.
According to the soldiers, Pushilin promised his fighters that those without training or experience will not participate in combat activity, but everyone ended up on the front line, including students and private sector employees. They also emphasized that the mobilization process did not include a medical examination and resulted in drafting people with chronic diseases. Eventually, the battalion lost around 40% of its personnel.
The so-called DPR and LPR announced a full mobilization on February 19. A couple of days later, locals noticed the authorities were abducting men off the streets. A few days before Russia invaded Ukraine, locals reported that the military commandant's office started detaining men eligible for mobilization in the streets. The detainees were immediately taken to recruit depots for further assignment to armed units. Recruiters even raided apartments in search of able-bodied men, informs Radio Svoboda.
In some cases, they even grabbed teenagers. “A friend of mine went to fetch some bread. A car slowed down, and the men in the car told him to get in. Where to, he asks. ‘To the front line.’ Luckily, he was only sixteen, so his dad went to the enlistment office and picked him up,” shared a Donetsk resident in a local online community.