Vladimir Putin is changing military recruitment rules to conscript people struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction into the fight with Ukraine.
The mandate includes the recruitment of people suffering from serious illnesses such as syphilis, bronchial asthma, and different cardiac and endocrine disorders. Amid projections that Russia has lost nearly 843,000 people since 2022, the amended standards will also prohibit the military from releasing personnel suffering from acute PTSD and hypertension.
Furthermore, those with “severe neurotic problems associated with stress…and mood disorders” are no longer allowed to leave Russian forces. Individuals suffering from psychosis—a dangerous mental disease characterized by a disconnection from reality—are being forced into active combat situations.
Critics of Putin have not hesitated to portray his policy as a heartless ‘cannon fodder’ method, sending waves of troops to their deaths while slowly encroaching on Ukrainian territory. Recent photographs and recordings show the magnitude of the brutality: injured soldiers, some staggering on crutches, are being returned to the front lines.
There is also footage of soldiers being taken to conflict zones while their hands are shackled in cuffs. The upcoming modifications to Russian military law are expected to cast a wider net over the country’s potential soldiers. This includes conscripts and contract troops, who may now be mobilized or pushed to serve despite medical conditions like as war-induced PTSD, according to reports from the Express US.
“Syphilis is no longer an obstacle to service,” stated lawyer Arseniy Levinson during a discussion on the Ostrogozhno Novosti channel. “Alcoholism [and] drug addiction are not grounds for dismissal.” Levinson raised concern: “It’s difficult to explain why the approach is changing so dramatically. This is based on wartime experience.”
He said bitterly, “I believe this is a cynical approach. “If a soldier is considered cannon fodder, he does not require much health.” He contended that this approach undermines citizens’ right to life and health: “This violates citizens’ right to life and health protection. The less a person is prepared for service and the sicker he is, the lower his chances of survival during military operations.”
Levine emphasized the importance of the changes: “It’s not for nothing that the rules were tightened. Now the bar has been reduced.” The channel stressed important changes for conscripts, noting, “In the case of conscripts, the document recognises as fit a number of diseases that previously did not allow them to be taken into the army.”
It recited the list, which included “Hypertension stage 1, dermatological diseases if spread to less than 10% of the body.” Even people with bronchial asthma may be eligible for care if they have not had a relapse in the previous five years. The same leniency is applied to a variety of endocrinological and cardiac diseases in which the health standards are eased.
The enrollment of people with sexually transmitted syphilis is expected to affect both drafted and regular service members. There are also hints that North Korea has withdrawn troops from specific places.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service ascribed the absence of activity since mid-January to substantial casualties, saying, “There have been no signs showing North Korean troops deployed to the Russian Kursk region engaging in battle.” For the time being, these troops have withdrawn from the frontline.
