Russia drafting retirees into army, telling conscripts to buy their own supplies
Russian men well past the formal conscription age are being rounded up and forced into the military.
In one instance, a 63-year-old retired lieutenant colonel with diabetes was mobilised. A 51-year-old former lieutenant and a 59-year-old factory foreman were also pressed into service.
Earlier this week, a 59-year-old former lieutenant colonel with arthritis, hearing loss and hernia in the spine was also reported to have received a mobilisation summons.
READ MORE: Putin's draft could upend the deal that kept him in power
Some of the men drafted into the Russian military are at retirement age. Supplied
Russia's military has been searching for potential soldiers to fill the 300,000 troop quota set by Vladimir Putin last week.
There has been a mass exodus from the country, with potential draftees fleeing over the border into Georgia, Finland and Kazakhstan.
At a checkpoint into Georgia, thousands of people abandoned their cars at the side of the road, eager to cross on foot before Russia closes the border.
Some young Russian men have reported being stopped from leaving the country.
READ MORE: Two blasts detected before sinister disturbance on Baltic Sea
Some Russians are being blocked from leaving the country. Bazabazon
Meanwhile, conscripts are reporting being sent directly to the front lines without any training at all.
"We've been told officially that we'll go to the combat zone without training," one mobilised serviceman said in a video.
"We're off to Kherson on September 29."
Servicemen have been given uniforms and weapons, but told to source everything else they need themselves.
In one video, a female officer tells new recruits they are only being supplied their uniforms and armour.
READ MORE: Russians flee as conscripts for Ukraine war handed rusty weapons
Russian conscripts were handed rust-covered AK-47s before being sent into Ukraine. Twitter
"Take sleeping bags with you. You will have to sleep where you have to," she said.
"All this applies to medicine, diarrhoea tablets, hydrogen peroxide tourniquets. I don't have enough tourniquets for you."
When she was told by a soldier that pharmacies are out of tourniquets, she told them to find some in car first aid kits.
She then told them to buy tampons and pads to use to absorb the blood from bullet wounds.
An estimated 56,000 Russians have been killed since the invasion of Ukraine began in February.
Share a tip-off, video or photo with us
