Mediazona names at least 350 Russian conscripts killed in Ukraine despite official Kremlin policy against sending them into combat
Source: Mediazona
Mediazona has published a list naming 350 Russian conscripts killed in the war in Ukraine. The outlet, BBC News Russian, and volunteers have been tracking Russian losses through publicly available sources since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Officially, Russia does not send conscripts to war. The first reports of conscripts taking part in combat emerged immediately after the invasion. At the time, the Defense Ministry promised to bring them all back to Russia.
Yet conscripts have continued to die, Mediazona reported. Russia officially deploys conscripts to guard its border regions. In addition to dying in border fighting, conscripts are regularly killed by Ukrainian shelling.
The outlet also has the names of nearly 700 people who signed military contracts during their compulsory service. It is unclear whether they did so voluntarily. Conscripts are often tricked or forced through violence into signing contracts.
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