11.01.2023

Russian authorities forcibly drafted disabled people into the army in the occupied Horlivka

Forced mobilisation continues in the territories occupied by Russia. On January 10, Suspilne News journalist Alexander Papin reported, citing the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, that in Horlivka, Donetsk region, up to 30 people were forcibly mobilised during a regular raid, four of them with disabilities. “After 2 days of so-called training at the Vostochny training ground, they were sent to one of the military units of the Russian occupation forces,” the General Staff officer explained.

Earlier it was reported that in the Russian regions, people with disabilities received conscription notices. In the fall, a 43-year-old resident of the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast with a disability of the 3rd degree was sent to the collection point, and in Adygea a wheelchair user received a conscription notice. However, in both cases, the conscription notices were withdrawn.

Putin’s decree “On the announcement of partial mobilisation in the Russian Federation” does not directly prohibit the mobilization of people with disabilities. However, the official state Internet portal for informing about the socio-economic situation in Russia, “Obyasnyaem.rf”, says that disabled people are not subject to mobilization, regardless of disease leading to disability.