Russians have warned that the public may incite an armed insurrection over the Kremlin's treatment of mobilized soldiers in Ukraine.
The warning was issued by relatives of Russian men drafted under President Vladimir Putin's partial mobilization in late 2022, amid reports that soldiers are being prohibited from leaving the military despite completing their terms.
State Duma Defense Committee Chairman Andrey Kartapolov said in September 2023 that Russian men drafted for the war won't be rotated out of Ukraine until the conflict is over. He also told Russian news outlet Fontanka in an interview published on Tuesday that "there is no need to dismiss anyone."
"Every citizen of the Russian Federation liable for military service must be ready at any time, at the behest of the Motherland, to come and complete the task," Kartapolov added.
The Moscow Telegraph, which has nearly 90,000 subscribers, collated several reactions from relatives of the mobilized on social media, writing: "Families of the mobilized predict an armed uprising."
"They will achieve an armed insurrection...my husband can no longer tolerate all this," one Telegram user quoted by the channel wrote.
"That's exactly what my husband says," another Telegram user responded.
Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment by email.
Kartapolov told Fontanka that releasing the men who had been drafted since September 2022 would play into the hands of Ukraine.
"You see, these people [mobilized], they have been fighting for a year now, they have become professionals in their field. And you propose to recruit others instead of professionals in their field, and then train them for a long time? This is exactly what our enemies want," he said.
Kartapolov added: "The guys are fighting, thank them for that. Thank you very much and God bless them all. They will complete this task."
Russian soldiers' relatives have been actively demanding that their men be allowed home.
The Russian public have been "betrayed and exterminated by our own people", the Telegram channel The Way Home, which is made up of family members of Russian troops, said in November 2023.
"We got screwed and you're screwed. We remember how the president promised that reservists would not be called up, that tasks in [Ukraine] were performed only by professional volunteers. And then our loved ones were taken to Ukraine," the message said. "The promises turned out to be empty. Many will never return. Mobilization turned out to be a terrible mistake," the group added.
The RAND Corporation, an American think tank and research institute, said in a report in June 2023 that Russian personnel fighting in Ukraine will not be permitted to leave until the period of partial mobilization is ended by another decree.
"Currently, the only ways out—apart from death in combat—are reaching mandatory retirement age, medical discharge or imprisonment. Some soldiers have taken matters into their own hands by deserting," the think tank said.
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