Penza police call reports of forced recruitment raids ‘false’ but concede some men may have posed as officers

Source: Penza Region Internal Affairs Ministry

Residents of the Penza region are “increasingly standing up for lawbreakers” and preventing police officers from detaining them, the Interior Ministry’s regional department said. These incidents come amid local reports of raids, abductions, and the forced deployment of men to fight in Ukraine.

Police said “certain residents of the Penza region” continue posting videos of men being detained and then sent to draft offices — information the Interior Ministry claims is “untrue.”

The agency did not rule out that certain individuals could be impersonating police officers, but said an “immediate and comprehensive” inquiry into them is being conducted.

The Interior Ministry complained that citizens who interfere with detentions “do not think about the severity of the repercussions that inevitably follow the crimes committed.”

The region’s residents have been reporting mass raids since mid-June: men are being seized right off the streets, forced to sign contracts with Russia’s Defense Ministry, and sent to fight in the war in Ukraine. Authorities deny that men have been forcibly sent to the front.

At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.

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Penza police call reports of forced recruitment raids ‘false’ but concede some men may have posed as officers

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Penza police call reports of forced recruitment raids ‘false’ but concede some men may have posed as officers

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