The military prosecutor's office of the Chebarkul garrison confirmed that the command of five military units provided false information about contract service, deceitfully forcing conscripts to sign them, and in some cases, signatures were simply forged, reported the human rights project «School of the Conscripts»*. All this was done to meet the recruitment plan for contract soldiers.
Last fall, conscripts complained that the command of one of the military units forged contracts, signing for them, which was confirmed by the relatives of more than 40 servicemen. After that, a new group of conscripts was forced to sign contracts, being promised to be left to serve in the rear.
Relatives filed complaints with the military prosecutor's office and courts, indicating that conscripts are being forced to sign contracts, they are given false information about the terms and conditions of the contract, and if consent cannot be obtained through exchange, the command forges the signature and concludes the contract for the conscripts.
The statement cited the example of one of the conscripts who was transferred to serve near Chebarkul, from where he was sent to the border in Belgorod, where he was already presented with a contract. The contract was concluded with the commander on behalf of the conscript, although the recruit had not seen or signed the documents.
The agency demanded the termination of contracts with 13 conscripts, but, according to their relatives, was refused. The division command stated in its response to the military prosecutor's office that there are no formal obstacles to concluding the contract, and the relatives are simply dissatisfied with the decisions of their children.
* Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent».