Protests, flight from the country … The partial mobilization announced by Vladimir Putin on Wednesday is not easy. But according to the Russian General Staff, more than 10,000 people have already volunteered.
Mikhail Soutine was waiting be stopped What he did not foresee, as he was about to demonstrate in Moscow against sending hundreds of thousands of Russian reservists to Ukraine, was They gave him a mobilization order to go to the front.
After several hours Vladimir Putin When the mobilization of 300,000 men and women was announced on Wednesday, 29-year-old musician Mikhail took to Albert Avenue to protest.He was arrested, like his 1,300 others across the country
“I expected the usual process of arrest, police station and court,” said the young man, who was questioned by phone on Thursday. by RFI.
“But let them say: +Tomorrow you will go to war+, (…) it was a surprise,” he says.
According to the independent NGO OVD-Info, Suetin was not the only protester to receive a mobilization order at the police station following his arrest.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters there was nothing “illegal” about it.
Suetin says that after he was arrested, officers took him to a room and asked him to sign a subpoena to go to a military mobilization center.
Opponents of the attack that Russia launched against Ukraine’s neighbor on February 24 said, “Either you sign this or you spend 10 years in prison,” they threatened him.
On Tuesday, on the eve of mobilization, parliament sentenced harsh prison sentences to those who refused to join the army or desert. No text entered, but still valid.
Suetin refused to sign the subpoena on the advice of his lawyer and was released on Thursday.
Russia: ‘Unfortunately signed’
Andrei, who turned 19 last week, also went to a demonstration in Moscow on Wednesday.
In contrast to Suetin, the young man was able to sign the document under “threat” and obtain a digital copy of it.
“Obviously he couldn’t get away. I looked around and decided I couldn’t stand it,” he said on the phone. “Unfortunately, I signed.”
And Andrei just started his studies at the university. And the Kremlin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu assured that students would not be summoned, and that the Russian army would give privileges to reserves with precise skills and military experience.
“But Russia, as they say here, is a country of endless possibilities,” the official bitterly points out.
Still looking for a lawyer, Andrei finally decided not to go to the mobilization office at the appointed time of 10:00 on Thursday.and you never know what the result will be
“I haven’t told my parents anything because it worries me.” he says. “I will tell you when I have a clearer idea of what will happen to me,” he adds.
Source: Biobiochile
