Russian officer shoots conscript after his refusal to go to war

7 December, 2024 Russian conscripts, illustrative photo. Photo from open sources. A 19-year-old Russian conscript was shot dead at a training ground in the Primorsky Krai of the Russian Federation after refusing to go to war in the Kursk region.

This was reported by the publication Vazhnye Istorii (Important Stories) with reference to the materials of an investigative inspection. A lieutenant of the 394th Motorized Rifle Regiment shot a 19-year-old conscript from Tatarstan with a Kalashnikov rifle while preparing to be sent to the border with Ukraine. This follows from the materials of the investigative inspection, which are at the disposal of the publication.

The murder took place on October 21 at the Illinsky training ground of the 60th Motorized Rifle Brigade in the Primorsky Krai. After training at the training ground, the conscripts were supposed to go to replace motorized rifle units securing the border in the Kursk region.

Photo of the materials of the investigation into the murder of a conscript. Photo credits: "Vazhnye Istorii" (Important Stories)

According to the investigation, the lieutenant, during a weapons training session, disengaged the safety of his AK-12 assault rifle and fired a burst into the line of conscripts.

The bullet hit one of the soldiers in the head. According to the relatives of the deceased, who were interviewed by the publication, the conscript could have been shot for refusing to sign a contract and go to the combat zone. "We are all sure that the shooting was related to the refusal to sign the contract.

He told his friends that they had been under the pressure. He was mocked, put on guard duty for eight days in a row, not provided with medical care, beaten with iron rods on his arms and neck... He shared this with his close friends in a private chat group, which was deleted immediately after his death," stated a relative.

When the relatives received the body of the deceased, they found not only a bullet hole in his forehead, but also bruises all over his body. He was drafted into the army in July 2024 from the Tatarstan village of Verkhniy Uslon. In local communities on the Russian social network Vkontakte, his obituary said that the soldier "decided to give his life for his homeland."

Forcing conscripts to sign contracts

Against the backdrop of a decline in the number of people willing to sign a contract with the Russian army despite the constant increase in payments, the military leadership is trying to force conscripts to sign contracts to be sent to war.

In addition to psychological pressure and physical coercion of conscripts, military units also resort to falsifying and signing contracts with the Russian army without the consent of the soldier. In particular, in October 2024, seven conscripts told journalists that they had received one-time payments from the Ministry of Defense to sign a contract. This was not the first known case of this kind.

At the same time, all seven claimed that they had not signed anything and did not intend to stay in the Russian army for more than a year. Nevertheless, they refuse to take the money back from the conscripts. And no one can write an application for refusal, as they are not released from the unit.

Conscripts shared that as a result, they wouldl be forced to go to the front line in the near future.