Russia conscripts evacuated from Kursk Oblast forced to fight at line of contact

The Russian conscripts evacuated from Kursk Oblast following the beginning of the Ukrainian offensive are being forced to sign contracts and sent to fight at the line of contact.

Source: Russian online publication Verstka citing two mothers of the conscripts

Details: Approximately 150 conscripts, who had previously managed to flee from the border areas of Kursk Oblast, are now stationed at a military unit near the city of Kursk.

Mothers said the conscripts are being told they will be sent "after the assault units" to "mop up the territory" and are promised benefits and "combat pay" of 4,000 to 4,500 rubles [approximately US$43-49] per day.

"My son called [me] and said they were told, ‘You would [have to] go anyway, but we will give you combat pay. We’ll train you a bit and send you with the assault troops. And if you don’t agree, you’ll be court-martialled and sent [to fight] anyway, you can’t escape’. So, they are planning to send them there anyway. They are trying to pressure them psychologically, manipulate them and send our children into this hell," Verstka quotes one of the mothers.

Another woman said that her son and other conscripts are allegedly being persuaded to sign a contract with the Russian Defence Ministry.

She also mentioned that her son, who was called up to military service from Belgorod Oblast and had been in Kursk Oblast since April, did not make contact for four days after the Ukrainian breakthrough. The woman complained to journalists that Putin was not keeping his promise not to send conscripts to the so-called "special military operation".

"Our president said that conscripts should not be involved in the special military operation. He was not supposed to participate in combat. Why has this happened? He has seen things he should not have seen. If you wanted them to defend the borders, why did you not prepare them?" the woman complained.

Background:

• On the morning of 6 August, the Russians claimed that Ukrainian forces had mounted an attempt to infiltrate Kursk Oblast, Russia. Russian propagandists and military bloggers are claiming that Ukrainian forces have secured a foothold in the border area. Russian ruler Vladimir Putin called the situation a "provocation".
• On 9 August, Russia’s Ministry of Defence issued a statement on the situation in Kursk Oblast, acknowledging that Ukrainian forces were on the outskirts of the town of Sudzha.
• On 10 August, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said that 76,000 civilians had been evacuated from areas near the Russian-Ukrainian border in Kursk Oblast
• On 12 August, Alexei Smirnov, acting Governor of Kursk Oblast in Russia, informed Russian leader Vladimir Putin that 28 towns and villages in Kursk Oblast were "under enemy control".
• Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, reported to Volodymyr Zelenskyy that as of 13 August, Ukraine’s defence forces had gained control over 74 settlements in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.

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