Russian men are living in fear of a new mass military mobilization that could be ordered by President Vladimir Putin, with new reports emerging of men being detained on the streets and pressured into signing contracts to fight in Ukraine.
New investigations reveal how Russian citizens are complaining about forced recruitment in several regions of the country.
T-14 Armata Tank from Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
T-14 Armata Tank Russian Army. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
On Friday, October 30, Meduza reported that families in the Siberian city of Omsk are reporting an increase in the number of men being detained and forcefully taken to military recruitment centers.
There have been similar complaints in other parts of the country, with human rights organizations documenting alleged forced recruitment across the country.
Another report from October 30 by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty revealed how approximately 50 men were detained in Moscow and St. Petersburg in October, in circumstances that human rights activists are describing as unlawful.
The reports of a potential new mass mobilization come as Putin rejects Kyiv’s offer to freeze the current front line, and as Russia continues to suffer heavy losses in Ukraine, with voluntary military recruitment falling over the last year.
Russian Men Grabbed Off the Streets
The latest complaints from Omsk describe how local authorities are allegedly detaining men without any warning and attempting to force them to sign up for military service.
An October 28 report from Novaya Gazeta Europe describes how relatives of men who were taken to the Sirius-55 military recruitment center are claiming that the men were physically assaulted and forced to sign contracts.
Several families also reported losing contact with their relatives after they were forced to attend recruitment facilities.
The allegations are not independently verified, but they do come amid claims from human rights organizations that more complaints are being made about forced enlistment.
The complaints are not just coming from one city, either.
According to the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), an independent Russian investigative organization that specializes in human intelligence and open-source intelligence (OSINT), the complaints are coming from at least 33 Russian regions and Russian-occupied Crimea.
The reports suggest that Russian authorities are becoming more aggressive as they attempt to recruit new soldiers, and that Russian men and their families are skeptical of the generous incentives being offered to encourage men to join.
T-14 Armata Tank Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
With the war raging and no end in sight, Russian families are concerned that men are simply being sent to their deaths.
Police Detain Men In Major Cities
There are also circulating reports of police targeting men eligible for compulsory military service in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Per reports by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the police have detained approximately 50 draft-age men in the two cities over the last month.
Russian antiwar organization Idite Lesom documented the cases.
According to the report, men are being stopped near subway stations and outside of residential buildings before being transferred to military recruitment offices and forced to serve.
On October 23, recruitment officials also allegedly entered a gym at the City Mall shopping center in St. Petersburg, checked identification documents, and issued a summons to a young man.
Does this mean another mass mobilization is underway?
No.
But Russia is currently conducting its regular autumn conscription campaign, which is separate from the recruitment of contract soldiers for the war in Ukraine.
On October 1, Russian General Staff official Yevgeny Burdinsky said that the military intended to recruit 120,000 new conscripts between October and December.
Russia Needs More Soldiers
The reports come as the data show that Russia is spending increasing sums of money to recruit soldiers, but is struggling to attract enough volunteers.
Figures compiled by military recruitment analyst Janis Kluge show that approximately 263,000 Russian citizens signed military contracts during the first nine months of 2026.
In the same period last year, Moscow recruited marginally more — some 292,000.
This represents a 10% decline, despite the average recruitment bonus rising to almost 2 million rubles, worth roughly $25,000.
A Foreign Policy report published on October 30 also revealed that the September 2022 mobilization never formally ended, with a 2023 Russian Supreme Court ruling establishing that mobilization legally remains in place until a presidential decree terminates it.
Because Putin never issued that decree, Russia’s mobilization has legally been ongoing for four years.
Some reports also describe Russia preparing to recruit far more soldiers, with Ukrainian intelligence indicating in August that the Russian General Staff had prepared plans to mobilize an additional 600,000 troops across 2026 and 2027.
Kyiv has claimed that half of those troops would be recruited this year, and another 300,000 next year. However, the plans have not been independently confirmed.
For now, Putin remains determined to avoid another public announcement of a mass mobilization, but declining recruitment numbers and continued battlefield losses could force the Kremlin to reconsider.
About the Author: Jack Buckby
Jack Buckby is a British researcher and analyst specializing in defense and national security, based in New York. His work focuses on military capability, procurement, and strategic competition, and he produces and edits analysis for policy and defense audiences. He brings extensive editorial experience, with a career output spanning over 1,000 articles at National Security Journal, and has previously authored books and papers on extremism and deradicalization.
