“The lists have been drawn up, we don’t need you”: how a number of military registration and enlistment offices refuse to take volunteers to participate in the SVO

Since October 4, a separate function has been available on the public services portal - to apply for voluntary participation in a special operation.

This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Chernyshenko.

According to him, the service was launched in test mode over the weekend and two thousand volunteers have already signed up through it.

In total, more than 70,000 Russians volunteered to go to the special operation zone in Donbass through Gosuslugi, Chernyshenko noted. 

However, as RT found out, military registration and enlistment offices do not always accept applications from potential volunteers, and this happens without objective reasons.

"Necessity Outweighs"

24-year-old Magomed from Moscow has already been refused several times to enlist in the ranks of the military.

For the last time, he was told at the military registration and enlistment office that the lists of those mobilized had already been drawn up and that no more people were needed.

“For the first time I came to the military enlistment office in the first days of March.

Then I was told that they were not recruiting volunteers.

A couple of days later, information appeared that citizens could still voluntarily join the army.

I went again, but the military commissar said that people without military experience are not recruited into the army, ”says Magomed.

The young man has the rank of lieutenant, which he received after graduating from the military department while studying at the university.

According to the military ticket, his military specialty belongs to the field of intelligence - "information and psychological support for military activities."

On September 24, after the announcement of partial mobilization, Magomed again turned to the military registration and enlistment office.

“This time they told me: “The lists have already been drawn up, we don’t need you.”

And then they advised me to apply to the military registration and enlistment office at the place of permanent registration - in Dagestan.

I plan to do so, although from the experience of my friends, also volunteers, I know that this does not always help, ”says the source of RT.

Magomed is sure that he can be useful at the front.

Although he did not do military service, he learned how to use firearms during military training.

In addition, now the young man is studying military regulations.

“It seems to me that with the proper level of motivation and with a tolerable level of officers in the training center, one can normally prepare for military service,” he said.

Magomed's friends calmly accepted his decision to volunteer: among them there are many who are ready to mobilize or are already serving in the NVO zone.

The young man's mother at first dissuaded her son, but then resigned herself to his decision.

“Mothers never want to let their sons go to war.

That's why I asked not to give my last name: she doesn't know that I went to the draft board.

We agreed with her that if I get a summons, I will go.

Well, it turns out I cheated a little, ”he says.

At the same time, the young man does not consider himself a hero because he volunteered to serve at the front.

Speaking about the reasons for his decision, he answers briefly: "Because it is right."

“It is obvious to everyone that now there is a shortage of personnel at the front.

I understand that it is dangerous there and I can die.

It just seems to me that right now the need outweighs the danger.

Now it’s necessary, ”adds Magomed.

Another resident of Moscow faced a similar problem, who turned to the editors of RT with a request to help him understand the actions of the military registration and enlistment office.

He received a call from the military enlistment office of Uryupinsk, Volgograd region, where he is registered, and was told to come to the place with things for mobilization.

“We drove 700 km from Moscow, and when we got there, they simply turned him around at the military registration and enlistment office and did not even want to sign a contract.

The notice was withdrawn.

The husband has a great desire to repay his debt to the Motherland.

He is 26 years old, category A, he served in motorized rifle troops, specializing as a grenade launcher, ”says the volunteer’s wife.

- In the same military registration and enlistment office, his friend, a former colleague, is mobilized and sent just to the motorized rifle troops.

Although this guy has a reservation from the employer!”

Volunteers waiting in line

The partial mobilization announced in Russia affects the psychological readiness of men to go to war, says Kirill Kabanov, member of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, chairman of the HRC Standing Committee on Civil Participation in the Development of the Law Enforcement System.

“The desire to go to the service or return to the army is a normal part of the self-consciousness of a man.

For very young people in our country, this part is practically destroyed, and starting from the age of 25-30, people increasingly believe that the moment has come when it is necessary and time to prove oneself a man.

Basically, these are those who have already served and returned relatively recently, ”he notes in an interview with RT.

As for the reasons why military registration and enlistment offices refuse to accept volunteers into the army, most often they are associated with the inefficient work of draft commissions and poor-quality medical examinations of recruits, he believes.

“In the military registration and enlistment offices for ten years there were cards of military registration specialties for privates and reserve officers.

When orders were issued from the Ministry of Defense, they took these cards and began to send summons to everyone in a row, looking at the necessary VUS.

The worst thing is that they do not conduct medical examinations, as a result of which people with illnesses are sent to training units, and they can guard special facilities at most in the rear, and not perform combat missions.

And people who come as volunteers are stopped, and as a result, they wait in line,” notes Kirill Kabanov.

57-year-old resident of the city of Salavat of the Republic of Bashkortostan Anatoly Balyanov, even before the announcement of partial mobilization, passed a medical commission appointed by the military registration and enlistment office.

However, this did not help him go as a volunteer to the front.

“I applied to the military registration and enlistment office at the beginning of September, underwent a medical examination, they didn’t find any deviations or health problems, especially chronic diseases.

They said to wait for a call to Ufa for professional selection.

After September 21, I myself called our city military registration and enlistment office, and here they tell me that in any case I do not fit the age, since there is a limit - up to 50 years.

It seemed strange to me: without a presidential decree (on partial mobilization

), there seemed to be no restriction on volunteers, but it appeared with the decree, ”says Balyanov.

The man served in the border troops in 1984-1986, has the rank of corporal. 

Six months ago, Anatoly lost his job in the construction industry, he admits that it is difficult to find a new place - employers refuse because of his age.

But the contract is not the only thing that motivates him to go to the service, the man claims.

“In the Great Patriotic War, two of my grandfathers died.

God forbid that all this happens again in our country.

Perhaps the most important decision in my life is to contribute to our victory now, says the volunteer.

- For example, my neighbors are mobilized - young guys with children growing up.

And I am no longer burdened by the upbringing of my children, I already have grandchildren.

That's where I would be most useful.

Maybe he would have replaced some young guy in the army who would return home and raise his children.

Another volunteer, 62-year-old Igor Lyutikov from Nizhny Tagil, is confident that the most effective soldier will be the one who wants to go to the front.

A reserve officer, he has already applied to the military enlistment office several times with a request to take him as a volunteer, but so far he has been refused because of his age.

Lyutikov is a native of Mariupol and has been involved in the anti-Maidan movement in Ukraine since 2014.

“If a person wants to sincerely serve, then he will bring victory.

And if people are sent there against their will, then there will be no sense.

Believe me, age has nothing to do with it.

People like me - we are going to fight for the Motherland, and not to cut the loot, and not because we were driven.

I understand that for some I may look like a fool - I'm torn to where they kill.

But you understand correctly, this is the business of my life - to destroy this Nazi reptile, ”says Igor Lyutikov.