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Belarus Blocks Russian Draft Dodgers from Fleeing Country
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Conflict & Security

Belarus Blocks Russian Draft Dodgers from Fleeing Country

From ABC Color · (11m ago) Spanish Critical tone

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Belarusian authorities are preventing Russian citizens called up for military service from leaving the country.
  • Russia and Belarus share a database of individuals prohibited from leaving the Union State, blocking those on the list.
  • Russian authorities automatically prevent men aged 18-30 who have received a military draft notice from departing, with human rights advocates reporting cases of conscripts being forced to sign contracts for combat in Ukraine.

Belarusian authorities have begun to actively prevent Russian citizens who have been conscripted into the military from fleeing the country, according to reports from the Belsat channel. This action signifies a tightening of border controls between the two allied nations, directly impacting individuals seeking to evade military service in Russia's ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

A spokesperson for the Belarusian State Border Committee stated that if an individual's departure is restricted, they will not be permitted to leave, and any inquiries should be directed to the Russian Federation. This indicates a coordinated effort, as Russia and Belarus share a database containing individuals prohibited from leaving the Union State. Consequently, any Russian national appearing on this shared list will be denied exit.

Si su salida no está restringida, podrá salir por territorio bielorruso. Si lo está, entonces las preguntas hay que dirigirlas a la Federación Rusa

— Spokesperson for the Belarusian State Border CommitteeExplaining Belarus's policy on preventing Russian conscripts from leaving the country.

Russian authorities are systematically preventing all men between the ages of 18 and 30 who have received an official military draft notice from leaving the country. The Movement of Conscientious Objectors has reported the first documented case of a Russian national, originally from St. Petersburg, being prevented from traveling abroad from Minsk after receiving his draft notification. This young man was scheduled to undergo a medical examination on April 29th.

Human rights defenders are raising alarms, alleging that many conscripts are being coerced into signing contracts to fight in Ukraine while performing their mandatory military service. This situation highlights the increasingly restrictive measures being imposed on Russian men eligible for military service, both within Russia and through cooperation with neighboring Belarus. From a Belarusian perspective, this cooperation underscores the close integration of security and border policies within the Union State, a detail often underemphasized in Western reporting that tends to focus solely on Russian actions.

Si la persona se encuentra en la bases de datos, no le permitirán salir

— Spokesperson for the Belarusian State Border CommitteeDetailing the mechanism by which Russian conscripts are blocked from leaving.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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