Moscow sent 10,000 naturalized immigrants to the front

Russia announced, on Thursday, that about 10,000 foreign Russian citizens had been sent to the front in Ukraine, and admitted that others preferred to leave its territory for fear of being mobilized. Russia has repeatedly been accused of pressuring citizens of Central Asian countries living on its territory to join the army, and many of these former Soviet republics have warned their citizens of the risk of conscription.

Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russia's Investigative Committee, a powerful investigative body, stressed that authorities were tracking down naturalized people who had not registered with the army, as they were supposed to. “We caught more than 30,000 (the people) Who obtained citizenship (Russian) But they did not want to register for military service, so we put them on the list.”He said during a conference, referring to the database that collects the names of people who are likely to be registered.

Increase inspections

“About 10,000 have already been sent to the special military operation area.”“, he confided, using the euphemism imposed by the Russian state regarding the attack on Ukraine. Millions of migrants, most of them from Central Asia, work in Russia to support their families back home. Facing labor shortages due to decades of demographic crisis, this country has facilitated access to Nationality to attract immigrants.

But Russian citizenship requires male holders to register in the army and serve under the flags if they are called up. Alexander Bastrykin admitted that some workers had started “Leave slowly” Due to increased checks. He did not specify the phenomenon. In addition, police raids on migrant workplaces and homes have increased after the attack, claimed by the Islamic State group, on Crocus City Hall, which left more than 140 people dead in March, near Moscow. The alleged attackers were citizens of Tajikistan.