October 11, 2023

"Our Men Are Not Slaves; Bring Them Home"


"Our Men Are Not Slaves; Bring Them Home"
Readiness check of the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, Wikimedia Commons

Wives and mothers of Russian mobilized conscripts organized a massive flash mob, a call to return reservists home. However, rather than gathering in person, this flash mob occured in the comments section of an online broadcast of Vladimir Putin’s speech at the Valdai Discussion Club.

Messages from relatives of the mobilized expressed deep concern that their loved ones have been stationed at the front for over a year. "Our men are not slaves; bring them home," wrote one concerned relative. Simultaneously, authorities have initiated measures to block resources where relatives of the mobilized have been coordinating their appeals in the comments sections of official statements and in private chats with deputies, wives, and mothers of reservists.

Specifically, on VKontakte, Russia’s largest (state-owned) social network, the group "Za zamenu mobilizovannykh" ("For the replacement of those mobilized") has been blocked, and on Zen, a recommendation service made by Yandex, the channel "Semyi mobilizonavnnykh iz Rossii" ("Families of those mobilized from Russia") has been included in Roskomnadzor’s restricted content list. After the flash mob, more messages appeared in comments under Putin’s appearances in communities of wives and mothers of the mobilized, urging them not to comment on live broadcasts by officials.

Previously, Vazhnye Istorii journalists had observed that VKontakte started blocking user posts with hashtags like #vernyomrebyat ("#bringbacktheguys") and #mobilizovannymporadomoy (#"themobilized should go back home"), based on the Prosecutor General’s Office’s concerns regarding “unreliable” information about the war in Ukraine.

As the consequences of these actions unfold, women connected to the mobilized Russian armed forces are raising concerns in group chats, attempting to draw attention to the issues arising from the indefinite deployment of reservists at the front through personal and public appeals to officials.

Mobilization was announced on September 21, 2022. According to Russian authorities, 300,000 people were mobilized at that time. Many have already lost their lives. A recent study indicates that, on average, Russian conscripts perished in Ukraine after just four and a half months of service, and every fifth conscript did not survive for more than two months. Those who have endured are compelled to continue their service.

According to Andrey Kartapolov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense, there are no provisions for the rotation of mobilized conscripts, and they are expected to return home only after the conclusion of the war.

You Might Also Like

To Stay and Survive
  • August 15, 2023

To Stay and Survive

A filmmaker Elizaveta spent months riding Russia’s rails and discussing the war with fellow travelers.
Lords of War
  • August 10, 2023

Lords of War

New report details how Russian oligarchs are recruiting "volunteers" for Russia's War on Ukraine.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955