The front did not accept the reservists – Newspaper Kommersant No. 192 (7393) dated 10/15/2022

About 700 reservists from the Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, Tomsk regions and the Perm Territory were demobilized from the Ural District Training Center (UCC) in Elani (Sverdlovsk Region). Some of them are full-time students and employees of backbone enterprises, some are citizens with serious medical disabilities, for example, owners of artificial heart valves, HIV-positive, people with an autism spectrum disorder and those with mental illness. Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation from the Sverdlovsk region Maxim Ivanov talks about sending home a “significant percentage” of those mobilized gathered in Elani and blames the military registration and enlistment offices that called them. However, the regional ombudsman Tatyana Merzlyakova, in an interview with Kommersant, insists that it is impossible to consider all 700 people “erroneously mobilized”, since often the reservists did not notify the military registration and enlistment offices in advance of the reasons for giving them a deferment.

Deputy Maxim Ivanov (United Russia) announced the return home of those erroneously called up for service as part of partial mobilization. In a conversation with Kommersant, he said that approximately 300 of those returned home were mobilized “illegally.” In particular, we are talking about full-time students and employees of backbone enterprises and companies that have reservations from mobilization. About 400 more people, Mr. Ivanov continued, had serious health problems and could not serve. Thus, the parliamentarian clarified, military registration and enlistment offices called up reservists with artificial heart valves and elbow joints, HIV-positive people, people with an autism spectrum disorder and those with mental disabilities, as well as citizens with injuries to the musculoskeletal system. “The peculiarities are striking when people who are registered in psychiatric dispensaries are mobilized. These people were given weapons in the training center – it’s simply dangerous! – the deputy was indignant. – But this is not the only example of extremeness. For example, a 53-year-old man was brought to Yelan, who even climbs the stairs with difficulty. Who declared him fit for service? Did he even pass a medical examination at the military registration and enlistment office?

It should be noted that since the beginning of mobilization, three reservists have died in the Yelan center. A 33-year-old man went into cardiac arrest. Another died of epilepsy due to alcohol poisoning. The third, according to Maxim Ivanov, committed suicide. The incidents are being investigated by military investigators and prosecutors.

According to Mr. Ivanov, the position of the military registration and enlistment offices “just to fulfill the plan” seriously affects the work of training centers and the timing of mobilization, since the mobilized, who are now sent home, have already been given weapons and equipment, and they were formed into separate units. Now this work will begin anew – with new mobilized.

The human rights commissioner in the Sverdlovsk region, Tatyana Merzlyakova, in an interview with Kommersant, said that it was impossible to consider all 700 people “erroneously mobilized”, since often the reservists did not notify the military registration and enlistment offices in advance of the reasons for giving them a deferment. “The military registration and enlistment offices have a great responsibility, they are forced to work quickly. And they work responsibly,” the ombudswoman emphasized. “But often people themselves did not notify the military registration desk about their disabilities or student status. And we only find out about it when their relatives start complaining.” The Ombudswoman added that the acting military commissar is constantly in contact with her and makes concessions, returning home even those who fall under the mobilization criteria.

“The mobilized say that when they brought papers (confirming their reservation or illness.— “b”), the military registration and enlistment offices did not even look at them, answering that “in the educational units you will be checked and a full-fledged medical examination will be carried out,” Maxim Ivanov insists. “But this is the responsibility of the military registration and enlistment offices only.” According to him, the military prosecutor’s office has already prepared submissions on the elimination of violations to the military registration and enlistment offices of the Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan and Tomsk regions, from where the mobilized are sent to Yelan.

The deputy stressed that he could not disclose how many mobilized people are now in the training center, but stressed that 700 people are a significant percentage of the entire staff.

It should be noted that immediately after the start of mobilization, the district training center in Yelan faced a lack of capacity to accommodate reservists. Designed to accommodate 3.5 thousand people, the military unit was urgently re-equipped to receive twice as many reservists. In this regard, the inspection of the OTC was arranged by the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces Oleg Salyukov. However, there were no reports of any gross violations in the placement of reservists based on the results of the inspections.

Ilya Smirnov, Yekaterinburg