By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Thousands of Russians mobilised for military service in Ukraine have been rejected and sent home with the military commissar in Russia’s Khabarovsk region removed as they fell short of the draft criteria, the region’s governor said early on Monday.
Russia’s first mobilisation since World War II, after its forces suffered a major defeat in the battle field in Ukraine, has led to widespread discontent and forced thousands of men to flee abroad.
Mikhail Degtyarev, the governor of the Khabarovsk region in Russia’s Far East, said several thousand men had reported for enlistment in 10 days but many were not eligible for the operations.
“In 10 days, several thousand of our countrymen received summons and arrived at the military registration and enlistment offices,” Mikhail Degtyarev, Governor of the Russia’s Far East, said in a video post on the Telegram messaging app.
“About half of them we returned home as they did not meet the selection criteria for entering the military service.”
Degtyarev also said the region’s military commissar, Yuri Laiko was removed but that his dismissal would not affect the mobilisation plan set by Putin.
The mobilisation of men to fight in Ukraine has also led thousands of fighting-age men to flee from the country to avoid a draft.
The mobilisation was billed to enlist those with military experience but has often appeared oblivious to service records, health, student status and even age.
Some 2,000 people have been arrested at anti-war protests in more than 30 towns and cities, and some of them promptly given call-up papers.
