There Is No Explanation for Why It All Surfaced Specifically in Penza. But I Do Not Believe This Region Is the Only One”

“There is no explanation for why it all surfaced specifically in Penza. But I do not believe this region is the only one”

On the evening of June 18, mass raids took place in Penza and other cities in the region. OMON riot police and military enlistment office employees stopped passersby to check their documents. Some were detained and taken to the enlistment office, where they were forced to sign contracts with the Defense Ministry. That same evening, a video appeared on local social media showing women from Penza arguing and blocking a bus carrying detained men from passing through the gates of the enlistment office.

Human rights defenders from the Get Lost project are helping Penza residents protect themselves from being forced to sign contracts; they have already managed to do this for at least four city residents. Meduza asked Ivan Chuvilyaev, a representative of Get Lost, what is known about the security forces’ new tactic — and who is especially at risk of becoming a victim of the raids.

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“There is no explanation for why it all surfaced specifically in Penza. But I do not believe this region is the only one”

On the evening of June 18, mass raids took place in Penza and other cities in the region. OMON riot police and military enlistment office employees stopped passersby to check their documents. Some were detained and taken to the enlistment office, where they were forced to sign a contract with the Defense Ministry. That same…