19‑year‑old conscript Maxim Mistin signed the contract in a semi‑fainting state under threats from agitators from military unit 54708 in Boguchar, Voronezh region, the soldier’s father, Igor Mistin, told ASTRA.
“On August 19, after shooting practice, a group of agitators stopped him and told him to go into a room to listen to a lecture. My son was feeling very bad at that time because of the intense heat. He was in a semi‑fainting state, and he started bleeding from the nose. They left him alone in a closed room for two hours, took off his bulletproof vest, and confiscated his weapon. They threatened him and spoke to him in an authoritative tone, telling him to sign the contract, otherwise it would be even worse. To put an end to this torture as quickly as possible, he had to sign the contract,” the conscript’s father claims.
On the same day, Mistin, according to his father, wrote a report requesting to terminate the contract. Later, he was summoned and forced to record a video, again under threats, stating that he had signed the contract voluntarily and had no complaints against his commanders.
“At the unit, they told me: ‘Well, he’s of age, he signed it himself, he wants to go to war, we won’t reconsider anything.’” “The leadership of the 245th regiment avoids any contact with us, the parents, and at the same time claims over the phone that no complaints to the prosecutor’s office or the Investigative Committee will help,” says Igor.
The parents of the conscript have already submitted complaints to the Investigative Committee and to the military prosecutor of the Voronezh garrison (the document is in ASTRA’s possession), but they fear that during the time it takes for these complaints to be considered, the young man might be sent to Ukraine.
Mistin believes that the report might have been destroyed: “They refuse to issue either the contract or a copy — neither to us nor to our son — without giving any reasons.”
First reports of thick smoke appeared in the morning in local channels. Eyewitnesses reported dry grass was on fire, but the fire already reached the forest. The authorities have not commented
