What happened to the Russians Putin mobilized four years ago? Meduza follows two of them — one still at the front, the other now a deserter in Spain.

Russia's September 2022 'partial mobilization' has never been formally ended, despite drafting more than 300,000 men, at least 20,000 of whom have since died, according to the Defense Ministry's own figures. Meduza follows two of them: Maxim, a Pskov engineer handed a draft notice at work weeks after his son was born, and Temirzhan Bayanov, who was caught trying to avoid the draft before eventually fleeing abroad.

Maxim describes being told he'd serve in territorial defense, only to be shipped by train toward the front in Luhansk, passing through a devastated Sievierodonetsk before reaching combat positions near Kreminna. He recounts colleagues securing age-based exemptions, a company scrambling to keep enough staff to function, and a private's pay that fell well short of his prior income.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.