Mobilization rewriting – Newspaper Kommersant No. 182 (7383) dated 03.10.2022

Since the beginning of partial mobilization, deputies of all levels have received many appeals from citizens about violations committed during this process. Kommersant learned from representatives of the Duma parties what people are complaining about and what measures parliamentarians are taking in order to help their voters. True, the expert believes that from an electoral point of view, these efforts of the parties will go unnoticed, and only the All-Russian People’s Front, as a direct spokesman for the president’s will, will be able to earn points in the fight against excesses during mobilization.

The topic of violations during the implementation of the presidential decree of September 21 “On the announcement of partial mobilization in the Russian Federation” became one of the main ones at the meeting of the State Duma on September 28: the deputies criticized the excesses found on the ground and promised to take all possible measures to eliminate them. And they started this work with initiatives to change the legislation – first of all, the relevant law “On mobilization preparation and mobilization.”

For example, on September 28, a group of deputies from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, headed by the chairman of the committee on family, women and children, Nina Ostanina, proposed to exempt from partial mobilization large families with not four, as established today, but three or more children. At the same time, for the purposes of this law, it is proposed to raise the age of children from 16 to 18 years, and for those who study full-time at a university, up to 23 years. On September 30, deputies from the LDPR, A Just Russia – For Truth (SRZP) and United Russia (ER) submitted their amendments to the same law to the Duma. They proposed to give individual entrepreneurs the right, in the event of mobilization, not to apply for the termination of their activities (according to the law, military personnel cannot engage in entrepreneurial activities), but to appoint a manager. Also, for such businessmen, the possibility of tax holidays is provided. Finally, on October 1, deputies from the New People proposed to single out “partial mobilization” as a separate type and describe in the law the categories of citizens who have a deferment from it: parents of three or more children, family members of those already mobilized, guardians of a needy relative, the only children of a lonely parent.

However, as Kommersant found out, all parties consider it their priority to work with citizens’ appeals for prompt assistance to those affected by excesses during mobilization.

Thus, Deputy Secretary of the General Council of the United Russia, Vice Speaker of the State Duma Anna Kuznetsova told Kommersant that since the first days of partial mobilization, requests have been received daily from public reception parties in the regions and to deputies at all levels. “Consulting centers have been set up on the basis of public reception centers, with their help, the families of those called up for military service receive legal, informational and other support. Appeals come in very different – from gross violations of the procedure for conscription for partial mobilization to an elementary lack of information on various issues, ”said Ms. Kuznetsova. She also noted that United Russia helps to return home those who do not meet the criteria for mobilization and were called up by mistake, or get a deferment – for example, if you need to pick up your wife from the hospital or draw up documents for granting credit holidays. “There are calls and messages to the reception parties, and to me on social networks from families with three children, with children with disabilities, from families who have a difficult situation – their spouses have not yet received summons, but they are worried that they will not be able to cope with problems if dad gets under mobilization. I think we should try to approach such concerns as carefully as possible, to find a solution in each specific case,” said Ms. Kuznetsova.

Complaints from citizens related to the problems of partial mobilization are processed by deputies of the Communist Party faction on an individual basis, there are no general statistics, said the press secretary of the party leader, deputy Alexander Yushchenko. Nina Ostanina added that the main topic of appeals to her committee regarding mobilization is fears due to the possible conscription of the only breadwinner in a large family, and it was in connection with this that the Communists introduced a bill on deferment for fathers of large families. In addition, according to Ms. Ostanina, there are many complaints that the mobilized have to buy uniforms at their own expense, “and the cost can reach up to 600,000 rubles.” However, there is no “wave of complaints” about the erroneous mobilization, the head of the committee on family issues specified.

The chairman of the SRZP, Sergei Mironov, told Kommersant that he receives complaints about violations of the rights of citizens during partial mobilization through his Internet reception and from the party center for the protection of citizens’ rights. “We constantly stress the need to fight excesses. Somewhere in the field, summonses are handed out to everyone in a row – neither age, nor disability, nor other statuses that give the right to postponement and reservation are taken into account, ”said the party member. He also cited an example of such a “flagrant injustice”: the summons was given to the mother of three children, 41-year-old Zainab Isaeva, who has never been called up for military service, has no medical education, but is a volunteer of the Union of Volunteers of Russia. “SRZP MP ​​Yana Lantratova took this issue under her personal control. As a result, the next morning, police officers came to Zainab with an apology and took away the summons,” said the leader of the SRZP.

Ms. Lantratova herself also shared with Kommersant examples of incoming appeals to her: “A woman wrote that her husband was called, and she is on maternity leave and they have three children. Or the mother of the mobilized reported that her son’s specialty was changed on his military ID and called up. And in the North-Eastern District of Moscow, many summonses were handed over to full-time students who had never served. When you start to double-check, it often turns out that the military registration and enlistment offices did not have any updated data about a person.”

The press service of the Liberal Democratic Party reported that the collection of complaints is carried out through the adoptive parties and separately through the State Duma Committee on Social Policy, which is headed by Yaroslav Nilov. According to the press service, several hundred complaints have already been received, with which party lawyers are working, and if violations are confirmed, deputies send requests to relevant ministers, governors, and military enlistment offices. The main problems are related to the erroneous mobilization of people who are not subject to conscription, the party emphasizes: “Most often, the fact that a person did not do military service, but he is called up. Or a citizen served many years ago, and now his health does not allow him: very poor eyesight or a chronic illness. It happens that frankly older people are trying to mobilize. There are cases when fathers of many children are called.” In all cases, this is due to “confusion with documents on the ground or the “campaigning” of individual bosses,” the press service summed up.

The press service of the “New people” “Kommersant” reported that at the moment the party has received 1785 appeals. They are worked out by the deputies of the Duma faction and party lawyers, when the fact of violations is confirmed, a deputy’s request is prepared to the appropriate authorities. In most cases, local authorities meet halfway and help with solving problems, party members note: “And there are quite a lot of situations where an illegally mobilized person returned home after contacting our support service.” “Dozens of those who applied” were personally helped by the deputy head of the Duma faction Sardan Avksentiev, the press service emphasized. In addition, work has been launched in the regions to advise people on the legality of certain cases, this is mainly done through chats in Telegram.

Despite such activity of party members, political scientist Konstantin Kalachev believes that for voters the struggle of deputies with excesses during mobilization is likely to go unnoticed. “If anyone earns points in the fight against excesses in mobilization, it is the All-Russian People’s Front (ONF on September 25 announced the deployment of centers to assist citizens whose rights were violated during partial mobilization in all regions of the Russian Federation.— “b”). It’s like complaining directly to the president. And the parties have practically lost their subjectivity in the eyes of the people. In the electoral sense, United Russia could have earned points on this topic, but the ONF was ahead of it. Which fits perfectly into the concept in which Putin personally reduces the degree of horror in society, ”the expert sums up.

Ksenia Veretennikova, Maria Makutina