Russian authorities starve migrants and beat them to sign military contracts – ISW

Migrants in Russia. Photo: TASS, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news outlet

Russian authorities are illegally detaining migrants without food and water and using physical violence against them to force them to sign military contracts. 

Source: Institute for the Study of War (ISW)

Details: The Russian opposition news outlet Okno (Window) has highlighted concerns raised by lawyers and human rights activists, who report that nearly all detained migrants are being pressured into signing military contracts. Russian authorities are reportedly using threats of stripping naturalised citizens of their Russian citizenship and offering citizenship to migrants as incentives for military enlistment.

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Okno noted that the frequency of raids targeting migrants has escalated since the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall in March 2024.

On 29 July, Vyacheslav Volodin, the Chairperson of the State Duma, proposed that Duma members draft legislation mandating military service registration for new Russian citizens upon obtaining their passports. The Duma is also considering amendments to double the mandatory military service period for new citizens from one year to two and to increase the draft age, though the specific new age has not been disclosed.

To quote the ISW’s Key Takeaways on 29 July: 

• The US Department of Defense (DoD) announced on 29 July the provision of security assistance to Ukraine worth US$200 million from the authorisation of a Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) package and an additional package worth US$1.5 billion in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funds.
• The Kremlin is intensifying its efforts to codify desired behavioural norms within Russia by cracking down against undesirable behaviour in the Russian information space and within migrant communities.
• The Kremlin is likely attempting to establish prominent standards of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour among populations within Russia whose behaviour has recently threatened the Kremlin.
• Much of the Russian information space response to the recent Tuareg insurgent ambush of a Wagner Group in northern Mali coalesced around the suggestion that the Russian MoD will seek to benefit from Wagner losses, highlighting the continued distrust between the Russian MoD and both the Wagner Group in the Sahel and pro-Wagner commentators.
• Ukrainian drones struck Russian energy and utility infrastructure in Oryol, Voronezh, and Belgorod oblasts on the night of 28-29 July.
• Russian forces recently made confirmed advances northeast of Kharkiv City, in Vovchansk, near Avdiivka, and southwest of Donetsk City.
• The Russian government continues to take legislative steps to use migrants and newly naturalised citizens to fulfil Russian military personnel needs.

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