As Ukraine advances in Kursk, families of north Russian conscripts cry mercy

“The situation is such that my brother’s son, a conscript, was in Kursk. They only know that they were surrounded [and] that the commander got out some of them and that the fate of the other kids remains unclear,” an anonymous woman from the region of Komi writes in a social media page named ‘the mothers of Syktyvkar.’

“Please give us advice on where and whom to address,” she adds.

The woman is one of many that now request information about their young conscript soldiers that are sent to war.

The Russian version of the Barents Observer has come across a number of similar pleas from families of north Russian conscripts.

“In the military draft office they gave me a hotline telephone number [but] we have not managed to get through since Thursday. I left a message. Today I called 117 [the number to the Ministry of Defence hotline] but also they did not answer, I was waiting on the line for one hour and forty minutes, but there was only silence,” a local woman from Syktyvkar named Natalia Tureva writes in a social media post.

A number of families say that they are not able to reach their conscript sons. In a post on VK, friends and relatives of Nikita Melekhov explain that the young man served as conscript in the Kursk region and that he now can not be reached.

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Another north Russian conscript missing is Kirill Mezentsev, also he from Syktyvkar.

The Barents Observer spoke with Irina Shepeleva from Syktyvkar, whose son also was reported missing. Shepeleva said that her son ultimately was found alive and that he now is in Ukrainian captivity.

The young man is one of the many new prisoners of war in Ukraine. Among them is also 20-year old Ivan Plesovsky. His mother Svetlana Plesovskaya now calls on Russian authorities to help release the POWs.

“I beg you: do everything possible to free my sone and all conscripts from captivity. Don’t kill our kids, return them to us,” she says in an address to Russian authorities.

Not all the conscripts based in Kursk region survived the Ukrainian incursion. Among the young men that were killed in the attacks was Nikita Dobrynin, a conscript from the town of Pechora, Komi Republic.

Conscripts from several Russian regions are being sent to Kursk, including from the Kola Peninsula.

Conscripts from the FSB Border Service were few days ago honoured in a ceremony in Alakurtti, the military base located near the border to Finland. Many of the conscripts are likely to be on their way to the troubles Kursk region.

There are also reports about conscript from the 80th Motorised Rifle Brigade in Alakurtti being sent to war. The Alakurtti base is also knowns as Russia’s Arctic Brigade, and the prime area of operation is the vast and desolate territories stretching along the country’s Arctic coast.

A news report from Agenstvo concludes that several conscripts from the brigade are being sent to Kursk.

The 80th Motorised Rifle Brigade in Alakurtti has waged war on occupied Ukrainian territories since the start of the Russian onslaught in early 2022. Many of its soldiers have been killed. The Barents Observer in early 2023 published a compiled list of 65 of them. 

Vladimir Putin has repeatedly underlined that conscripts will not participate in the operations against Ukraine. Nevertheless, the Russian ministry of war in March this year confirmed that conscripts are fighting on occupied territories, and also being taken prisoners of war.

The government is working on the release of the prisoners, war ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said, Kommersant reported.