Newsweek: Russians break hands and legs to avoid conscription

Newsweek reported that multiple videos were posted showing men from Russia deliberately breaking their friends' limbs, with their apparent consent, to avoid drafting into the army.

She said in her

that thousands of Russians, who do not wish to be forced to fight in Ukraine, have fled to neighboring countries, including Kazakhstan, Georgia and Mongolia, since the draft order was issued.

However, some seem to be taking more extreme measures to avoid going to war.

Broken arm with a sledgehammer

In one of the videos shared on Russian social media and reposted, a Russian man hit another in the arm with a sledgehammer.

The footage shows a man with his left arm on a bench, while another man raises a sledgehammer above his head and then drops it.

Two women were seen inspecting the man's arm, although the extent of his injury is unclear.

In an apparent separate attempt to avoid conscription, a man can be seen jumping on his friend's leg, from the top of a staircase, apparently causing a traumatic injury.

The magazine did not independently verify the content of either clip.

set himself on fire

In the Siberian town of Ust Ilimsk, a Russian conscript officer was shot and killed by a man who was angry at his friend's conscription, while a protester in the central Russian city of Ryazan set himself on fire to protest against conscription.

Anti-mobilization protests were held in 38 Russian cities in the days following Putin's announcement, and police arrested more than 1,000 people.

The magazine noted that it spoke to a number of foreign policy experts about what the Russians say about Putin's war effort, which they are making an extraordinary effort to avoid.

Packing out of desperation

"The Russians, especially the young, were not ready to take part in the war in Ukraine before, and now they are trying to avoid it by any means. Tens and hundreds of thousands managed to leave the country, and today it is very expensive and difficult to leave," said Nikolai Petrov, a senior researcher at Chatham House.

Dr. Alan Mendoza, executive director of the London-based Henry Jackson Society, told Newsweek that Putin had mobilized out of desperation to try to end the war with Russia taking over the territories it had occupied.

"When you consider that the resolve of the Russian soldiers who actually volunteered to fight in Ukraine waned in a matter of months, perhaps it was inevitable that there would be little or no enthusiasm on the part of the enlisted army," he added.