Half of mobilised males in Russian area despatched dwelling, commissar fired – governor

Oct 3 (Reuters) – The army commissar of Russia’s Khabarovsk area was faraway from his submit after half of the newly mobilised personnel had been despatched dwelling as they didn’t meet the draft standards, the area’s governor mentioned early on Monday.

Russia’s first mobilisation since World Struggle Two, declared by President Vladimir Putin on Sept. 21, has led to widespread discontent amongst officers and residents over the way in which the draft has been dealt with, together with complaints about enlistment officers sending call-up papers to obviously ineligible males. [ read more

“In 10 days, several thousand of our countrymen received summons and arrived at the military registration and enlistment offices,” Mikhail Degtyarev, the governor of the Khabarovsk region in Russia’s Far East, said in a video post on the Telegram messaging app.

“About half of them we returned home as they did not meet the selection criteria for entering the military service.”

Degtyarev said the removal of the commissar, Yuri Laiko, would not affect the mobilisation plan set by Putin.

The chaotic mobilisation of men to fight in Ukraine has also prompted thousands of fighting-age men to flee from the country to avoid a draft that was billed as enlisting those with military experience and specialities but has often appeared oblivious to service records, health, student status and even age.

Some 2,000 people have been arrested at anti-war protests in more than 30 towns and cities, and some of them promptly given call-up papers – something the Kremlin said was perfectly legal.

Reporting in Melbourne by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Robert Birsel

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.