{"id":1332,"date":"2026-08-03T20:24:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T20:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/?p=1332"},"modified":"2026-08-03T20:24:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T20:24:22","slug":"russia-can-not-recruit-soldiers-now-sweeps-them-off-the-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/russia-can-not-recruit-soldiers-now-sweeps-them-off-the-street\/","title":{"rendered":"RUSSIA CAN NOT RECRUIT SOLDIERS; NOW SWEEPS THEM OFF THE STREET"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"article-image-slot image-slot-placeholder\" data-is-first=\"true\" data-doc-id=\"cms\/api\/amp\/image\/AA29gv2L\">\n<div class=\"article-image-slot\">\n<div class=\"article-image-container polished\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModal&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA29gKp0&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;The Wall Street Journal&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AAynGx&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;The Kremlin is bullying more Russians into fighting in Ukraine&quot;}\" data-test-id=\"AA29gv2L\">\n<div><\/div>\n<p><button class=\"article-image-height-wrapper expandable article-image-height-wrapper-new\" data-customhandled=\"true\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModalButton&quot;,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA29gKp0&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;The Wall Street Journal&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AAynGx&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;The Kremlin is bullying more Russians into fighting in Ukraine&quot;}\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"article-image article-image-ux-impr article-image-new expandable\" title=\"A billboard advertising contract military service in St. Petersburg, Russia.\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AA29gv2L.img?w=534&amp;h=356&amp;m=6\" alt=\"A billboard advertising contract military service in St. Petersburg, Russia.\" \/><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-caption-container image-caption-container-ux-impr articlewc-image-caption-container\"><span class=\"image-caption\">A billboard advertising contract military service in St. Petersburg, Russia.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Russia is strong-arming more fighting-age men into military service to boost the flagging ranks of its army as voluntary recruitment stalls and Moscow\u2019s initiative on the front line in Ukraine falters.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">In Russia\u2019s smaller towns and cities, some military recruiters have resorted to detaining men on the street, outside their places of work or under the pretext of routine document checks, say lawyers, rights activists and eyewitnesses. Once in a military recruitment office, men may be threatened or beaten until they sign up for the war, they say.<\/p>\n<p class=\"continue-read-break\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">The pressure campaign carries echoes of the partial mobilization Russian President Vladimir Putin instituted in the fall of 2022 when Russia\u2019s front-line positions were buckling due to a lack of manpower. It has also caused speculation among Russian analysts and the country\u2019s political class over whether it preludes another draft.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Russian authorities have offered life-changing sums of money\u2014often more than an entire year\u2019s salary\u2014to those ready to sign up and fight. But recruitment has become more difficult following tales of abuse inside the Russian military and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/world\/ukraines-drones-are-now-reaching-siberia-and-imperiling-russian-energy-assets-e0d2caa7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.t&quot;:7}\">Ukraine\u2019s increasingly lethal capabilities<\/a>, which have shortened the average soldier\u2019s lifespan on the front to a matter of minutes, days or weeks.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">\u201cAuthorities have switched to a method of violence, when they catch men and send them off,\u201d said Artyom Klyga, a lawyer who tries to help those who have been forced into service.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">The measures offer a counterpoint to the forced enlistment Ukraine has carried out in the face of its own manpower shortage.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-image-slot image-slot-placeholder\" data-doc-id=\"cms\/api\/amp\/image\/AA29gIdR\">\n<div class=\"article-image-slot\">\n<div class=\"article-image-container polished\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModal&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA29gKp0&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;The Wall Street Journal&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AAynGx&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;The Kremlin is bullying more Russians into fighting in Ukraine&quot;}\" data-test-id=\"AA29gIdR\">\n<div><\/div>\n<p><button class=\"article-image-height-wrapper expandable article-image-height-wrapper-new\" data-customhandled=\"true\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModalButton&quot;,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA29gKp0&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;The Wall Street Journal&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AAynGx&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;The Kremlin is bullying more Russians into fighting in Ukraine&quot;}\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"article-image article-image-ux-impr article-image-new expandable\" title=\"Russia is struggling to replace the soldiers it is losing in Ukraine.\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AA29gIdR.img?w=534&amp;h=356&amp;m=6\" alt=\"Russia is struggling to replace the soldiers it is losing in Ukraine.\" \/><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-caption-container image-caption-container-ux-impr articlewc-image-caption-container\"><span class=\"image-caption\">Russia is struggling to replace the soldiers it is losing in Ukraine.<\/span><span class=\"image-attribution image-attribution-ux-impr\">\u00a9\u00a0Sergei Karpukhin\/TASS\/ZUMA Press<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">While Russia\u2019s recruitment is still officially voluntary, law-enforcement officials are at times working with military recruiters to set a trap for the men and use violence or threats of arrest if they don\u2019t yield to the pressure, the people say.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">In the southwestern region of Penza, where recruiters have more aggressively pursued their aims, local resident Vladislav Leonidov said he found an acquaintance at a military recruitment office after the man went missing for several hours in May.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">The man had been called into the local police station on the pretext of checking his personal data. When he arrived, two military recruiters were waiting for him and carried him off to the recruitment office where he was beaten on the liver and kidneys, Leonidov said. He was able to intervene and force the man\u2019s release only as he was being transferred to a medical exam.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">\u201cIf we had come two hours later, he would have already been taken away,\u201d he said. \u201cThey move very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Raids in Penza by law-enforcement officials or recruiters have caught the attention of locals who have posted videos online in protest of the practice.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">One video outside a military recruitment office shows men in civilian clothes sitting inside a military van barricaded by crying women.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">\u201cThey beat you, they forced you!\u201d one of the women says between tears.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Russian authorities, who for years had gleefully pointed out Ukraine\u2019s forced enlistment, have played down the incidents and threatened a crackdown on those circulating videos of them.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-image-slot image-slot-placeholder\" data-doc-id=\"cms\/api\/amp\/image\/AA29gU2i\">\n<div class=\"article-image-slot\">\n<div class=\"article-image-container polished\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModal&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA29gKp0&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;The Wall Street Journal&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AAynGx&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;The Kremlin is bullying more Russians into fighting in Ukraine&quot;}\" data-test-id=\"AA29gU2i\">\n<div><\/div>\n<p><button class=\"article-image-height-wrapper expandable article-image-height-wrapper-new\" data-customhandled=\"true\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModalButton&quot;,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA29gKp0&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;The Wall Street Journal&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AAynGx&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;The Kremlin is bullying more Russians into fighting in Ukraine&quot;}\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"article-image article-image-ux-impr article-image-new expandable\" title=\"A Russian serviceman prepares a drone in this image released by Russia\u2019s government.\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AA29gU2i.img?w=534&amp;h=335&amp;m=6\" alt=\"A Russian serviceman prepares a drone in this image released by Russia\u2019s government.\" \/><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-caption-container image-caption-container-ux-impr articlewc-image-caption-container\"><span class=\"image-caption\">A Russian serviceman prepares a drone in this image released by Russia\u2019s government.<\/span><span class=\"image-attribution image-attribution-ux-impr\">\u00a9\u00a0Russian Defense Ministry Press Service\/EPA\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">The head of Penza\u2019s recruitment office, Andrey Surkov, told a government briefing that any raids in the region were targeting those avoiding service. The Penza branch of the Interior Ministry has denied that raids are sending men to the front and has threatened legal consequences for those who post or publicize them.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">\u201cThese video publications have no relation to sending people to the zone of the Special Military Operation,\u201d a ministry statement said, using the official euphemism for the war in Ukraine. \u201cThose spreading false information will face legal consequences in keeping with the laws of the Russian Federation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Blogger Stanislav Morozov, who has worked to bring attention to the issue in a documentary, said he is the subject of an investigation by Russia\u2019s feared Federal Security Service. \u201cThey haven\u2019t forbidden me from continuing, but they\u2019ve made it clear it\u2019s in my best interests not to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Of the dozens of relatives he\u2019s spoken to, he said, most agreed to sign a contract when law-enforcement officials threatened to plant drugs on them and arrest them on the spot.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Part of the pressure stems from regional programs in different parts of Russia that offer third parties cash, in most cases 100,000\u00a0rubles, around $1,300,\u00a0to bring someone to the recruitment office.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Morozov said advertisements hang in residential buildings across Penza promising: \u201cBring a friend to the recruitment center and get 100,000 rubles,\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Similar campaigns exist elsewhere, such as Tatarstan, where Russia produces the bulk of its drones, as well as in the Amur and Yaroslavl regions, and in cities such as Kaluga, Voronezh and Arkhangelsk. The number of cases of forced recruitment has also risen, said Klyga and rights workers.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Analysts say the measures have likely been blessed by the Kremlin and Defense Ministry but are implemented to varying degrees by region.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">The tactics are largely tied to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/world\/russias-war-is-going-badlyon-the-ground-and-in-the-air-447ce204\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.t&quot;:7}\">accelerating Russian losses on the front<\/a>, which now reach an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 killed and wounded each month, according to military analysts.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">\u201cJust as many people have to somehow be brought into service, and the fewer there are who are ready to sign a contract the more pressure they have to use,\u201d said Grigory Sverdlin, founder of Get Lost, an antiwar nongovernmental organization that helps Russians avoid service.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">U.S. officials say the efforts have likely added some numbers at the front though likely not enough to make any major breakthroughs. Instead, they say, the Kremlin is still weighing the possibility of calling another round of forced mobilization, which could bring another several thousand soldiers to the front. Such a measure, they say, would likely come after Russian parliamentary elections, slated for Sept. 20.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-image-slot image-slot-placeholder\" data-doc-id=\"cms\/api\/amp\/image\/AA29gj5y\">\n<div class=\"article-image-slot\">\n<div class=\"article-image-container polished\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModal&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA29gKp0&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;The Wall Street Journal&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AAynGx&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;The Kremlin is bullying more Russians into fighting in Ukraine&quot;}\" data-test-id=\"AA29gj5y\">\n<div><\/div>\n<p><button class=\"article-image-height-wrapper expandable article-image-height-wrapper-new\" data-customhandled=\"true\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModalButton&quot;,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA29gKp0&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;The Wall Street Journal&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AAynGx&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;The Kremlin is bullying more Russians into fighting in Ukraine&quot;}\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"article-image article-image-ux-impr article-image-new expandable\" title=\"Any new mobilization would carry political risks for Russian President Vladimir Putin.\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AA29gj5y.img?w=534&amp;h=356&amp;m=6&amp;x=714&amp;y=149&amp;s=102&amp;d=102\" alt=\"Any new mobilization would carry political risks for Russian President Vladimir Putin.\" \/><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-caption-container image-caption-container-ux-impr articlewc-image-caption-container\"><span class=\"image-caption\">Any new mobilization would carry political risks for Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/span><span class=\"image-attribution image-attribution-ux-impr\">\u00a9\u00a0Alexander Zemlianichenko\/POOL\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/world\/russia\/drone-attacks-on-russias-biggest-online-retailer-bring-war-home-to-middle-class-2e98507e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.t&quot;:7}\">Russia\u2019s economic problems<\/a>\u00a0and Ukraine\u2019s growing capabilities have added urgency to the question of mobilization. If Putin chooses to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/world\/putin-russia-ukraine-ceasefire-proposal-0021453b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.t&quot;:7}\">stick to his demands to take all of Ukraine\u2019s eastern Donbas region<\/a>, \u201che may have no other choice than to call a mobilization,\u201d said Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, a Moscow-based defense think tank.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">While the first round of mobilization was meant to round up reservists and men with military experience, another round would likely bring men with little experience or will to fight to the front.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">The political risks involved with such a move could outweigh the military benefits at the front. Some Russians say they would resist such a move with violence.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">\u201cAs soon as I\u2019m given a weapon, I will shoot those who mobilized me,\u201d said Dmitry Rogin, a 53-year-old Russian reserve officer who is among those who could potentially be called up.<\/p>\n<div class=\"intra-article-module-bottom-slot\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;intraArticle&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13}\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A billboard advertising contract military service in St. Petersburg, Russia. Russia is strong-arming more fighting-age men into military service to boost the flagging ranks of its army as voluntary recruitment stalls and Moscow\u2019s initiative on the front line in Ukraine falters. In Russia\u2019s smaller towns and cities, some military recruiters have resorted to detaining men [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-russia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1332"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1333,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1332\/revisions\/1333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}