Hi, this is Katya Krasotkina. Today Verstka published my piece about siblings and children of those killed in the war who do not want to join the army

Hi, this is Katya Krasotkina. Today Verstka published my piece about siblings and children of those killed in the war who do not want to go into the army.

The idea came to me while working on my previous article — about conscripts who ended up on the border in the Kursk region during the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ offensive. One of the women in that story had lost her son, and she was worried about her younger child, who is now 17. Having lost one son, she did not want to risk the life of another.

I wondered whether it is actually possible to avoid conscription in such situations. It turned out that Russian law does contain such a provision. And since 2024, courts have begun interpreting it to mean that siblings and children of those killed after being mobilized are also exempt from conscription. Military enlistment offices, naturally, resist this, but in court there is every chance of success — that is the conclusion I reached after analyzing court rulings and speaking with human rights defenders and conscripts.

In my view, it turned into a useful text — especially ahead of the autumn draft. I hope more people will learn about their right not to go into the army.

But of course, as I expected, even though the law exists, there are many pitfalls. For example, the provision does not apply if the deceased relative signed a contract — even if he was originally taken under mobilization. Also, if a person is already serving, it will not be possible to be discharged after a loved one’s death — at most, to be transferred to the rear, and even that is difficult. So I listened to heartbreaking stories in which children have already died in the war, and the remaining ones are supposed to be taken into the army. I’m sharing them with you.

Read the article on Verstka’s website (with VPN):

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Verstka

“Enough sons have been lost.” Military enlistment offices deny deferments to conscripts whose relatives died in the war

There are chances only if the person killed had been mobilized