Russian military commissar says mistakenly drafted Russians have themselves to blame

In a video address published Wednesday, Altai Krai military commissar Marat Usmanov said that Russians who are conscripted by mistake are themselves to blame for the error.

“There’s been a lot of outrage about the fact that citizens who have the right to defer have been receiving military summonses. That became possible as a result of citizens themselves not fulfilling their obligation to [...] notify the military commissariat of changes to their family status or their workplace,” said Usmanov. He also said employers have failed to notify the commissariats of employees’ exemptions to the draft.

In addition, Usmanov said that over 100 people whose age exceeds the maximum limit for mobilization were mistakenly sent draft orders. All of them were reportedly given a choice between returning home and remaining in the army. According to Usmanov, only 62 of the men chose to go home.