The chaotic Russian military mobilization raises the fear among observers that the military recruitment campaign will focus on sending ethnic minorities to fight and die in Ukraine more than others in the rest of Russia.
The magazine's report highlighted that Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement of partial military mobilization last Wednesday was a shock to the residents of Buryatia, a mountainous republic within the Russian Federation located in eastern Siberia and about 3,500 miles from Moscow.
With the launch of Russia's military recruitment drive in Buryatia, which has turned about a dozen schools in its capital into recruitment centers, some men from remote areas have taken refuge in the forests to escape conscription, and others are trying to flee across the country's land borders, Foreign Policy said.
"Today, Buryatia experienced one of the most terrible nights in its history," Alexandra Garmashapova, head of the Free Buryatia Foundation, was quoted as saying in a blog post on her Facebook account last Thursday.
The report indicated that despite reports that the military summonses included all parts of Russia, with the summoning of some of those arrested against the backdrop of the protests in Moscow shortly after the partial mobilization was announced;
The intensity of the conscription campaign in Buryatia has raised suspicions that the Russian authorities are recruiting more ethnic minorities than others and sending them to fight and die in Ukraine.
She said 30% of Buryatia's population - an estimated one million people - are indigenous and have close cultural and historical ties with Mongolia.
The recruitment of minorities is not limited to the residents of Buryatia. Reports published over the past two days indicated that the Russian authorities are recruiting citizens in towns and villages in Yakutia, one of the Republics of the Russian Federation, which is characterized by a large area and has a small population, located in northeastern Siberia and the majority of its population. Of the "sapphire" race of Turkish origin.
According to local media, 4,500 men from the region are expected to be recruited to fight in Ukraine.
Foreign Policy indicated that military recruitment campaigns are taking place in full swing in the Muslim-majority Republic of Dagestan, amid protests from the population.
There are about 160 different ethnic groups in Russia, according to the 2010 population statistics, and this great diversity is due to Russia's imperial history and regional expansion.
Ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples in Russia constitute 20% of the country's total population, according to 2002 statistics.