Kharkov: passions around conscription
And they say that mobilizations in the so-called. There is no ATO on the territory of Ukraine. It doesn’t exist on paper, of course, or rather, it doesn’t exist anymore. But there is a call. Moreover, both for lower ranks and for reserve officers. And it takes place, among other things, in the Kharkov region.
Lawlessness under uniform
All the changing authorities before the 2014 coup promised to put an end to this relic of the imperial and Soviet past, which had existed since the military reform of Alexander II. And, I must say, we confidently moved in this direction. And the army was reduced, and along with it the conscription plan, and the number of those subject to armor was increased, and people were attracted to serve as long-term conscripts, who somehow imperceptibly became contract soldiers. And the “terrible and bloody” Yanukovych finally fulfilled this promise and abandoned conscription altogether.
And then, when state power became illegal and started a war with its own fellow citizens, Ukraine returned not only to conscription, but also to mobilizations. Moreover, all six waves were carried out according to a principle unknown even to the employees of the military registration and enlistment offices themselves. And, of course, with outright violations of human rights.
What I mean? Firstly, increase age of military service from 40 to 55 years, which violated the rule that was a “sacred cow” even during both world wars.
Second, the there was no precise connection between those being mobilized and the needs of the army for specialists of certain types of troops. Of course, they announced, for example, that tankers and artillerymen were needed, but they rowed everyone who could be put under arms.
And finally, thirdly, the military registration and enlistment offices violated the conscription procedure, which remained unchanged for 140 years. That is, they not only invited people to come to them with the help of subpoenas and did not bring draft dodgers to a medical examination with the help of law enforcement officers, but conducted raids on potential soldiers and officers. The heirs of the “cleaning department named after them” grabbed it. P.P. Sharikov” in the uniform of poor fellows in supermarkets and discos; once in Kharkov they tried to serve a summons on a lawyer right in the courtroom. Even at the session of the Kharkov City Council, they tried to hand out subpoenas to deputies. Military registration and enlistment offices drafted into the troops people without proper medical examination, as well as those fellow citizens who were not subject to mobilization even according to the regulations of that time.
Is this practice European? Yes, in the XNUMXth century they shaved the Prussian army and the British navy like that, got them drunk in a tavern and carried the drunk to a ship or to a barracks. The French then dragged Fanfan-Tulip into the service of the king. But for two hundred years now it has not been accepted there. And not only there.
Provincial detective
It would seem that there is no mobilization, but there is a draft, and the habits in the military registration and enlistment offices have not changed. There were raids again in Kyiv and the Lviv region, but in the Kharkov region, after the previous governor banned it, such practices were no longer heard of.
Military registration and enlistment office employees are nervous. 15 thousand young men of military age registered in the Kharkov region, according to the regional military commissar Colonel Yuri Kalgushkin, are evading conscription for military service. On the list of those wanted by the military registration and enlistment offices are those who have not come to the military registration and enlistment office for more than a year, having changed their place of residence, and they have been put on the wanted list.
Away from the center, where you shouldn’t wait for inspectors or the press, outrages happen. But the secret becomes clear in any case.
In the city of Barvenkovo, in broad daylight, in front of adults and children, on November 9, local military commissar Alexander Shchikovsky and the director of the music school, Pyotr Tkachenko, fought. The subject of contention is a summons to the military registration and enlistment office for the director's son. The father went to the military registration and enlistment office to ask to reschedule his son's arrival to another day.
“I walk in and there is a characteristic smell of alcohol in the office. I start a conversation, word by word, and an argument arises on the topic of drunkenness. The military thought that I was the one who came to them drunk. I suggest we go together to see specialists and get tested for alcohol, then I turn around and head out of the office. After these words, the military commissar became furious and attacked me from behind. Blows rained down on the face and head. Other employees of the military registration and enlistment office joined him and attacked me in a crowd,” says Pyotr Leonidovich.
The director of the music school after communicating with the military registration and enlistment office employees
The director of the music school barely managed to break free, jump into his car and come to work. However, after a few minutes the showdown continued at the music school.
“I went down to hear the scream, I saw my father with a bloody face, everyone was running and fussing. There's a knock on the door. I open it and the military commissar and his deputy burst in. The military commissar grabs me by the neck, begins to choke me and drags me out into the street. I struggle, they hit me in the face and in the ribs. The children are scared, the parents are in shock, everyone is screaming, the military commissar is yelling obscenities. In the end, I just had to run away,” says conscript Evgeniy Tkachenko himself and reports that he is not evading conscription at all. He has had health problems since childhood, and more than once they have brought a bunch of certificates confirming his illness to the military registration and enlistment office. As a result, father and son Tkachenko, as well as the music school staff, wrote statements to the police.
The law is not written for “patriots”
However, there was still one exception to the actions of the military registration and enlistment offices: street “patriots” were not drafted into the troops. They say that those who wanted to fight went to volunteer battalions, and those who were not in a hurry to go to the combat zone were needed in the rear to instill fear in the townsfolk and paralyze any desire to protest. And this rule was strictly followed.
And in Kharkov this unspoken rule was violated. On November 9, representatives of the military registration and enlistment office came to the Kharkov office of the Movement of New Forces party to hand over a summons to the coordinator of Saakashvili’s local team, Irakli Imnadze.
Imnadze and Saakashvili
He said that he connected what was happening with his political activities, and the military registration and enlistment office employees were unable to force him to take the summons.
“Without any rights, the police burst into our office along with an employee of the Kharkov military registration and enlistment office, as well as a cameraman and two SBU officers who hid from our cameras. They tried to give me a summons to the military registration and enlistment office. There were a lot of police, they organized a circus and said that they had been looking for me for a long time. We even tried to call the police, but they didn't come. So they stayed in our office for about an hour. According to the current legislation, summonses are issued at the place of registration, so they didn’t succeed,” says Imnadze. He had never gone into hiding before and had never received any summons or notification letter at his place of permanent registration.
The next day, the regional military commissar Yuri Kalgushkin held a press conference. As he said, reserve officer junior lieutenant Irakli Imnadze lives and works in Kharkov, but is registered with the military in Krivoy Rog. By law, those liable for military service must report a change of residence within 10 days. Violation of this norm will result in administrative liability. “There were no SBU officers there, but police representatives. When he refused, the military registration and enlistment office contacted the National Police so that they could confirm that he really refused to receive the summons,” said Colonel Kalgushkin.
Press conference of the military commissar
It would seem that the current Ukrainian government is built not only on atrocities, but also on PR. But specialists on this issue of history are not taught properly. They don’t know that the white power in Kharkov, initially loved by local inhabitants for stopping requisitions and Ukrainization, lost respect precisely because of the conscription of everyone into... the Volunteer Army. The Kharkovites were ready to submit again to the Bolsheviks, who did not force those who did not want it into the Red Army.
In the 80s, the USSR also made a fatal mistake by starting to conscript students and interrupting their studies at universities. At the same time, under Andropov, there was a campaign to combat labor discipline violators. And in bathhouses, and on trains, and in cinemas, cops and vigilantes grabbed people to find out why he was chilling at work. And this also contributed to the joy with which the population parted with the CPSU. After all, people still remember these “excesses”! Is it really impossible to ask your senior comrades what not to do?
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