Free Republic

The families of Russian men drafted under President Vladimir Putin's partial mobilization last year have planned mass protests demanding their return home, amid reports that soldiers are being prohibited from leaving the military. The soldiers' relatives published a manifesto on the Telegram channel The Way Home on November 12 demanding that their men be allowed home, and inviting Russians nationwide to participate in rallies on November 19. Since 2014, protesters in Russia have faced punishment for holding demonstrations without the permission of the authorities. The RAND Corporation, an American think tank and research institute, said in a report in June...

For the second time in a month, men who say they are with a mobilized Russian unit deployed to Ukraine have complained about their treatment and commanders. The men are from regiment 1439, which comes from Irkutsk in Siberia. A group from the same regiment issued a similar protest in January. It's unclear whether the new video includes men involved in the previous complaint. In the latest video, published Saturday, the group claimed they had been given “unlawful and criminal orders” from their command and sent to battle without “any support.” “We are the mobilized from Irkutsk oblast (region), regiment...