The military draft is making a comeback
HIS ARM and a leg wrapped in bandages, Artyom Uymanen stood outside a St Petersburg voyenkomat, or military recruitment centre, in 2019 to protest against Russia’s mandatory military draft. The bandages symbolised the lengths young Russian men go to exaggerate medical conditions that might grant them an exemption from “conscript slavery”, as Artyom calls it. Now, two years later, aged 20, he is anxiously awaiting the results of his visits to psychiatric healthcare facilities. He hopes for a diagnosis of depressive-anxiety disorder, a surefire way to dodge military service.
