Ex-soldier reveals that Russia’s military still considers wounded veterans for conscription service

A 24-year-old man from Chita who returned home after suffering a thigh injury during combat in Ukraine told local journalists this week that he’s been summoned for a medical exam to determine his fitness for conscription service. 

The former inmate enlisted with the military in October 2023 to escape the remainder of his sentence (for what offense is unclear). After two months in the field, he was injured in a drone attack, spent a month in the hospital, and then served the rest of his service contract away from the front lines. After returning home, the former soldier (whom media outlets have not named) complained that he never received promised benefit payments or veteran status.

Not to be confused with combat-service mobilization, Russian conscription targets men ages 18 to 30. In the summer of 2022, private military companies started recruiting prison inmates to fight in Ukraine; the Defense Ministry later seized control of this process, making it harder for prisoner recruits to leave the military before the end of the war in Ukraine.