The Russian antiwar project Idite Lesom reported around 50 cases of military-age men being detained in Moscow and St. Petersburg during October and considers the detentions unlawful. Radio Svoboda cited the group’s figures in an October 30 report. The tally is based on reports received by the group, rather than official statistics.
According to Idite Lesom, it received six reports from Moscow between October 13 and 21 alone. One concerned a 19-year-old student identified by journalists as Maxim, a pseudonym used for his safety.
Maxim’s mother said he was detained at Timiryazevskaya metro station and taken to an assembly point on Ugreshskaya Street. Officials seized his passport, student ID and phone despite his medical documents and proof of full-time enrollment, she said. She alleged that he was threatened with violence and released the following day after a lawyer intervened.
A friend of 22-year-old Roman Bayramov said he lost contact with him on October 16. He fears Roman may have been forced to sign a military contract, but has not seen any agreement or spoken to Bayramov since contact was lost.
In St. Petersburg, one interviewee reported military-registration checks at a gym in the City Mall shopping center on October 23. Another witness described a raid at Sennoy Market on October 16. Timofei Vaskin of the School for Conscripts suggested that facial-recognition technology may have been used in Moscow.
Separately, Idite Lesom received 51 reports in August and 50 in September from conscripts alleging pressure to sign military contracts. Those figures do not describe the October detentions.
Year-round military conscription has been in effect in Russia since January 2026. Conscripts are scheduled to be sent to military units from October 1 through December 31, and the General Staff said it planned to draft around 120,000 people over that period.