Online reviews of a military recruitment center in Omsk, Siberia, say local residents are being picked up off the streets and sent to war

Reviews posted on the 2GIS page for the “Sirius-55” military recruitment center in Omsk say city residents are being forced to sign contracts with Russia’s Defense Ministry and go to war. The Omsk Civic Association drew attention to the complaints.

The reviews appear to come from relatives and acquaintances of men forcibly sent to war. Some were posted by new accounts, others by accounts whose users have reviewed institutions and businesses in Omsk on 2GIS for years.

Reviews saying Omsk residents were being picked up off the street and taken to the recruitment center began appearing as early as March. “They bring in people who are sick, cross-eyed, people who’ve had strokes, even people who aren’t fully dressed and just stepped out to the store,” one post reads. In August, media outlets (1,2) and human rights advocates also reported several similar cases in Omsk.

A new wave of complaints appeared in September and October. Several women said their relatives and friends had been picked up off the street even though they did not live in Omsk and had come to the city on personal business or for work.

In one review, a woman said her father-in-law had been “grabbed off the street and driven away” to the recruitment center on October 25. She said he was beaten there and needed medical attention afterward.

Reports of mass roundups of men in regions across Russia began appearing in the summer of 2026. Local residents said men were being picked up off the street, forced to sign contracts with Russia’s Defense Ministry, and sent to war. One widely publicized case took place in the Penza region. By October 22, human rights advocates had received reports of similar roundups from 33 regions across the country and annexed Crimea.