Russian bailiffs suggest mother of two enlist for contract military service to pay off bank debt

In the Russian city of Krasnoyarsk, bailiffs suggested that a mother of two sign a contract with the army in order to pay off her 800,000-ruble (around $8,560) debt to the bank, she told local news outlet NGS24.ru.

Olga, the mother of two, said that she borrowed money to renovate the apartment where she currently lives with her two children aged 9 and 13. After her divorce, she couldn’t repay the loan on time, which caused enforcement proceedings to be initiated against her.

On October 27, she found a letter in her car from the Krasnoyarsk Krai Federal Bailiff Service. It contained a summons to meet with a bailiff and a document instructing Olga “to contact the military commissariat” with an application to enlist in contract military service, “which will allow [her] to take measures to repay the debt under enforcement proceedings.”

“They are suggesting that I go to the military enlistment office and sign a contract to fight in the SVO to pay off the debt. Here is the first paper where they ask me to appear [at the military enlistment office], and in the second paper, it says that I owe Sberbank. And this move will help me repay the debt. But what about my children — it’s unclear,” Olga told journalists.

The outlet notes that the woman does not have a military service record. Olga stated that she has no intention of going to the military enlistment office because such work does not suit her and she is the sole provider for her two children.

The Krasnoyarsk Bailiff Service referred to the document Olga received as a “brochure.”

“Such recommendations are not personalized and are informative for debtors because debt recovery is suspended in the event of the debtor’s participation in combat actions as part of the Russian Armed Forces,” the department stated.