Russian conscripts forcibly taken from Vladikavkaz to serve in Armenia

WORLD  17 June 2024 - 10:25

Conscripts from Vladikavkaz were taken to a military base in Armenia and forced to sign contracts there.

The command sent at least four conscripts from the military unit in Vladikavkaz to the military base of the Russian Armed Forces in Gyumri, Armenia, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Telegram channel “Vazhnie Istorii”.

According to a soldier who appealed to human rights defenders, he and his fellow soldiers were told that they would spend the last four months of their service in another unit of the Southern Military District. The conscripts were put on an aeroplane and were not told where they were being taken. Only upon arrival, they realised that they were in Armenia.

Already at the military base in Gyumri, the soldiers underwent a medical examination, after which they were asked to sign a certain document. However, they were not given the text of the document itself - only a sheet of paper on which they were asked to sign.

"The 20-year-old guys foolishly thought that these were papers related to the medical examination and signed them. They were told that it was a report for continued service at this base and a contract with the Defense Ministry. The word 'contract' was not even mentioned," says Ivan Chuvilyaev, a representative of the "Go to the Forest" project.

Only the next day did the soldiers realise that they had signed contracts that were effectively indefinite during mobilisation and tried to revoke them. The command stated that the papers had already been agreed upon at the headquarters of the military district.

It is unknown how many conscripts were taken to Gyumri in this way. As a rule, when soldiers are forced to sign a contract, it happens in their own military unit on the territory of Russia. The human rights activists cannot explain why the soldiers were taken to Armenia this time.

In addition, according to the same conscripts, it is known that contract servicemen who fought in Ukraine are now being transferred to the military base in Gyumri.

Caliber.Az