Changing your home, work or mobile phone: the tricks they gave the Russians to avoid going to war

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Leaving the city, settling in another house, changing jobs… Organizations and activists belonging to the Russian diaspora living in the West are distributing a series of leaflets. Tips to make it harder for the Putin regime to hire you For the Ukrainian war.

This initiative is activated by pseudo-proximity. This winter a new stage in the forced mobilization of young soldiers for the front. The forecast is unofficial, but the OP, a Russian from Moscow living in Alicante, says “many people believe it, because it’s been experienced before.” The war left him abroad and stranded in the country with part of his family in February 2022. Today he is one of those sending such advice from Spain.

there is OP Relatives of military ageAnd these are friends in the same circumstances. “And everyone knows very well what we advise them, but it is not easy to do,” he explains. It is not easy to bypass the phone controls and blocks imposed in the country on non-foreign networks such as X, Facebook, Telegram or Vk from outside Russia.

Councils prepared a memorandum to try to evade the Russian Ministry of Defense. They are grouped into different versions; in circulation Russia says Russian sources are consulting in Spain. After all, this is a country that has historically been accustomed to shouting secret slogans, but what the Russian colonies in the Baltic countries have established in this campaign is not so secret. pacifist conversations Under the name “Call to Consciousness” with the support of lawyers and human rights experts.

The key to not joining the military remain outside the scope of government databases; It becomes difficult to locate by the military without committing a crime. Or committing to this: “Think about what to do: leave, hide, or resist. Every decision is correct. “The important thing is not to go to war” announces on social networks Ivan ZhdanovDirector of the Russian Anti-Corruption Foundation and Russian exile in Lithuania.

unknown location

The most repeated advice to young Russians of military age is not to disobey the authorities or even desert, but to do what is least feasible. personal message from their government urging them to join ranks, However, the next mobilization announcements will be made electronically, not by mail, as the Russian administration decided last April.

The first measure for this change address. For this, Zhdanov advised at the end of August that “a bigger city is better.”

Or it is more efficient to leave an address in town for an address in the city. So far, Russian conscription has been carried out for the Ukrainian war. more prevalent among young men in rural areas According to sources published and consulted by various international observers of the war, the country is in better shape than its contemporaries in the urban areas of European Russia, according to EL PERIÓDICO of the Prensa Ibérica group. “If you are from Moscow and a university student, you have a better chance of surviving this,” MC, a former diplomat in Moscow, tells this newspaper.

But “a medium-sized city is better: The risk of identification through cameras is high in large companies“, says EC in one of these conversations, where he is also said to be Russian abroad.

The change of residence must be made to a house where you can stay. seek refuge with your family or close friendsPersons who can request that their identities not be disclosed and with sufficient distance (including not only a change of location, but also a district or region) to prolong and complicate the process.

It is recommended not to be seen too much when entering the new house; They should not be the ones to open the door when someone knocks, due to the risk of being exposed by one of the so-called “mobilization commissions” that the Russian Army creates in places without public assistance.

Various lists of recommendations for transfer include “a essentials bagWith hygiene, medical and food products in case they spend time in a home without adequate resources. Also, have your passport ready in case you have to leave the country or leave, and in the meantime, keep it in an insulated box so that the chip cannot be read…

phone signal

There’s little use in moving house if you don’t do the same for your phone. “Get a different SIM card in the transit zone where presentation of an ID card or passport is not required. Use an alternative phone number for this card,” suggests in Russian one of the chats conducted by people involved and accessed by this newspaper. The Russia of the Future party belongs to his imprisoned rival Alexei Navalni.

The phone must be brand new or have an IMEI that has not been previously associated with another SIM used by the person hiding. But a SIM card without an associated ID will not last long: it is blocked. It’s better to use a friend’s who’s not from the area. And above all, Do not place the new phone next to the old one or where both devices can share GPS signals.

These tips are accompanied by other drastic measures. Among them, change employment contract. From foreign opposition Putin regime I recommend that you switch from working as an employee to working for the same company or another company, but as an external supplier “and agreeing to work remotely.”

No signal

The hiring candidate who doesn’t want to be needs to act, but You cannot take a plane or train: Buying your ticket leaves as much of a mark as staying at the hotel. It is another one of the basic tricks.

At the same time camouflage the property. Neither cars nor property should remain in the hiding teenager’s name, even if he continues to use it. “Transfer to relatives if possible.”

In his new life, far from where the army could find him, Russian candidate for tax absolute save moneyBecause while waiting for the war to end, bad times may come. and should Use cash: no credit card or ATM withdrawals.

Likewise, you should plan how you will continue any ongoing medical treatments before going underground. without having to attend a consultation or hospital.

Not attending the recruitment call, depending on insistence, From a fine of 3,000 rubles to 15 years in prison, including revocation of a driver’s license or a ban on obtaining a bank loan. The latest report from Amnesty International and another from human rights group OVD-Info estimate that: More than 20,000 Russian citizens were imprisoned For publicly opposing the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The European Office of Conscientious Objection counts more than 700 cases heard by “garrison courts” in which no acquittals were given.

But the call to disobedience is active: If all else fails, an immigrant to Canada finds himself romm: “Refuse to follow orders: better prison that you must kill or be killed.”

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