26/ "Due to the need for manpower, against the backdrop of high losses in the army, Russia is forced to recruit citizens regardless of their health or physical disabilities." /end
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Orlov mobilised via recruitment office “paperwork clarification”
22/ Orlov was mobilised into the 10th Tank Regiment (military unit 24314) after his local military recruitment office summoned him to "clarify his paperwork". An employee at the office filled in his paperwork as he was unable to do so himself.
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Wife appeals for husband sent to Ukraine after being declared fit for service
23/ He was declared fit for service despite his diagnosis, and was sent to Ukraine to fight there. His wife Anna has appealed to the Russian authorities to return him, but has had no response.
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Man with lifelong mental retardation promoted to junior sergeant in tank regiment
21/ In another case, 33-year-old Denis Vitalyevich Orlov from the Saratov region was made a junior sergeant in a tank regiment despite lifelong mental retardation that meant he could not read or write. His diagnosis meant that he was not eligible for military service.
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Brutal treatment: Imprisoned and beaten by former comrades
19/ "And that was it, they put him in a pit, he sat in the pit for four days, and then they said: go to the dugout." When he arrived, he was treated equally brutally by his erstwhile comrades. He told his mother: "They beat me with their hands, with a damp towel."
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Mother details son’s alleged abuse and extortion by attackers
16/ His mother Olga says: "They were constantly taking his money, well, not taking it—he'd hand it over himself. They said if you didn't give them the money, you'd get it in the teeth. Then it got so bad, they started trying to rape him, several times."
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Vakhrushev’s alleged prison threat, front-line abuse after food theft accusation
14/ According to his mother, Vakhrushev was told that he would spend 10 years in prison unless he signed a contract, after he was accused of stealing food. He was sent to the front line and was brutally treated by the other soldiers and his commander.
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Soldier Vakhrushev reports severe bullying and threats from fellow soldiers
15/ Vakhrushev told his mother that his fellow soldiers prevented him from sleeping: they chased him out of his dugout, called him names, and bullied him. One of the soldiers threatened to rape him. Another shot up his body armour at point-blank range, wrecking it.
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Russian Army Uses Mentally Disabled as Frontline Soldiers, Ukrainian Sources Claim
10/ Kalmykov's case highlights the Russian army's increasing use of the mentally disabled as frontline soldiers, despite their obvious unsuitability. Ukrainian sources say this is systematic.
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Soldiers poorly rated or ignored by commanders
A common theme is that soldiers are either falsely rated fit, or their fitness rating is ignored by commanders on the ground. In one example, a 27-year-old with an "intellectual disability with significant behavioural disorders requiring care and treatment" was rated fit.