1/ Three years on from their mobilisation, surviving Russian 'mobiks' have been speaking of their despair and hopelessness at being forced to serve indefinitely in an increasingly lethal war. "We're not considered human beings; meat shouldn't have an opinion," says one. ⬇️
2/ The Russian independent news outlet Verstka has been speaking to some of the mobilised soldiers who have survived from the original batch of 300,000 men mobilised after September 2022. It has found their morale to be low and the men eager to speak out. 3/ A retired police officer who was mobilised says: "When the draft orders arrived, they told us we'd be guarding warehouses on the border for six months. And we, like idiots, believed them. It's our own fault; it's a harsh lesson. Now I just want to return home alive." 4/ "I'm not a patriot and I'm not eager to take over Ukraine. There are few patriots. And everyone wants to go home." Another says that from the start, "the mood was [that we were] fucked... We were told straight away to fight. It was a no-brainer." 5/ "The front had collapsed, so they called on us to plug the holes. I understood everything perfectly, but running was scary. I just didn't expect civilians to be drafted into the war." 6/ The mobiks have found it particularly hard to deal with the indefinite nature of their service, which has led many of them and their relatives to describe their relationship with the Russian Ministry of Defence as "slavery". 7/ "At first, they told us you'd go for three months at most, six months at most. After six months, we thought: a year is the maximum. But soon we'll be entering our fourth year... And we're constantly thinking about demobilisation," says one mobilised officer. 8/ As reported previously, mobilised men are being ordered to "either sign a contract or storm the front," an approach described euphemistically as "combat replenishment." This makes them ineligible for an eventual demobilisation. 9/ "They're doing this to keep people in the army. Right now, those fighting are either [those] with expired contracts or those mobilised. At some point, up to 80% will want to quit—they're willing. 10/ "And those who signed recently will still serve even if the situation worsens," says a mobilised soldier. "Many of us don't understand why we should 'want' to sign. It's not a privilege, but the opposite." 11/ Some 'refuseniks' among the mobiks are nonetheless still refusing to sign contracts, in the hope that they will survive long enough to be demobilised. 12/ One of the refuseniks says: "I have three children myself, and a 70-year-old mother—and they don't give a damn, the assholes. I've already been hit in the head twice. Two workshops and a bunker were destroyed. And I don't give a damn [about a contract]." 13/ Another speculates that "The state is afraid that many fighters will return [home] and that questions will arise [about the war]. But they'll fucking return anyway." 14/ Chat rooms used by mobiks are full of speculation about when the war will end. The on-off discussions between Trump and Putin initially stirred jubilation, but hope has been dashed this month by the receipt of orders to equip winter uniforms. One man writes: 15/ "Fuck, guys, we're waiting until the end of the year. If they don't let us go, there's no point in waiting. If they haven't let us go after three and a half years, why keep us here for another three? I don't think they give a shit, they wrote us off a long time ago!" 16/ "So what should we do now? Enlist as conscientious objectors... We can't do anything; they're saying on TV that no one here doesn't want to be here," replies another. 17/ A third says: "If I come back alive, the only thing I'll regret is that I went to the draft board myself, following the summons. Three years of my life down the drain. I wish I'd torn up the summons three years ago and got a suspended sentence." 18/ When asked how he feels about the anniversary of his mobilisation, an army technician replies: "I'm drained, both mentally and physically. I've lost all my strength, emotions, and hope. I also don't believe I'll live to see the end of the war." 19/ His view is widely shared. "It's like Squid Game here. You take turns shooting. And there's always a loser", a mobik writes in a chat room. "Fucking hell, I just want to get the fuck out of here. I'm sick of this survival roulette," comments another. 20/ "Who wants to sit in this fucking mud, hungry and without water, for who knows how long?", asks a third. "With weapons like a native in a loincloth. And they're constantly trying to kill you with alien technology." 21/ The increasing lethality and automation of the fighting – which is now seeing autonomous AI-controlled hunter-killer drones being used on the front lines – has made many mobiks doubt that they will survive for much longer, and is leading them to desert to save their lives. 22/ "There's a new war going on now. Drone crews and electronic warfare crews are dying. The men in the 300s [i.e. injured] can't evacuate with their limbs severed, many are on the verge of blood poisoning. It's a disaster. There were disasters before, but nothing like this". 23/ The mobilised former police officer says that "the higher-ups don't care. We've simply accepted that we're not considered human beings; meat shouldn't have an opinion." Although he now works in the (relatively) safer rear, he wants an exit from the war. 24/ "I just want to return home alive. I'm not a patriot and I'm not eager to take over Ukraine. Three years have been erased from my life, only anger remains." He is considering deserting. "I have quite a few friends who are hiding well. I could hide for quite a while." 25/ "I'm already 50, I have no family left. And I can make ends meet with odd jobs." A man who works in his unit's HQ to retrieve deserters says that "people are fleeing every day. There are so many wanted posters every day. The mood is such that few people condemn them." 26/ "And I think the main reason is family problems. People truly understand that their whole lives are passing them by, families are breaking up, children are not seeing their fathers. Depression, uncertainty, and hopelessness are taking their toll." 27/ One soldier asks in a chat room what's so terrible about being imprisoned as a punishment for desertion. "So I don't get it: going to jail isn't an option at all? What if I want to go to jail?" Another points out, though, that deserting is "a bit of a gamble." 28/ "You can spend a year and a half in prison and get nothing, or you can join the stormtroopers when they catch you. I heard one guy was jailed, but only for a year." Being sent to die in a stormtrooper squad is reportedly becoming a standard punishment. 29/ Even so, the conditions on the front line are so terrible that many are willing to try anything to get out of the trenches. One of the mobilised soldiers speaks of seeing legless and armless men, mice eating "rotting, bloated bodies," and worms nesting in empty eye sockets. 30/ "On the third year, I'll just sit down near the front in a dungeon and do whatever I want. The military police won't get there, I won't die of hunger. There are a shitload of us like that, and more. They told us it would be six months. I'm running out of patience. 31/ "I'll even walk home, I don't give a damn about the charges, I want to live!" [TO BE CONTINUED]