Putin to force unemployed Russian men into fighting in brutal Ukraine war

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Russian servicemen stand guard at the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Russian servicemen stand guard at the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Moscow lawmakers are planning to press-gang unemployed men into fighting on the Ukraine frontline, The Mirror can reveal.

The cruel plan will involve hundreds of thousands of jobless male recruits forcibly signing up when they turn up to the dole office.

It is the latest plan to boost troop numbers for President Vladimir Putin’s ailing war which has thus far killed 132,160 of Moscow’s soldiers.

And it comes as Ukraine is bracing for a major Russian offensive, with 300,000 more of Moscow’s recruits deploying in a few weeks.

Russia’s largely-male unemployed amount to 2.7 million with an average age of 36, collecting a maximum benefit of £57 a-week, limited to just one year.

Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade eiqrhiqqkidekinvTeachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade

It follows debates with Moscow’s State Duma lawmakers and the dole-queue to war proposal is being considered by Putin.

Currently some 50,000 Wagner Group mercenaries are doing the brunt of the fighting in Ukraine, many of them recruited from prisons.

Putin to force unemployed Russian men into fighting in brutal Ukraine warRussian President Vladimir Putin inspects a training ground (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Moscow’s officials are keen now to avoid sending qualified engineers and skilled workers to the frontline as they can help the ailing economy.

Russia analyst Bruce Jones said: “This plan, if you put aside the immoral nature of this - and these lawmakers will have done just that - it would solve some problems for Russia’s recruiting heads.

“It will put those without a job to the frontline and they will be treated as expendable since Moscow shows no sign of compassion for the numbers killed.

“However many of those who will be sent will likely turn out to be unsuitable, as in too old to enlist and fight and that will cause problems.”

Putin to force unemployed Russian men into fighting in brutal Ukraine warRussian servicemen march during a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory (AFP via Getty Images)

Putin’s earlier mobilisation of civilians and ill-trained recruits has sparked waves of complaints from firms demanding their employees be returned.

The country’s Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov has already warned Putin 9,000 men were wrongly and illegally mobilised and had been returned to their families.

Many were in poor health and could barely walk.

On Tuesday Russian shelling hit more civilian targets in Ukraine, starting a fire at a town hospital and damaging five apartment buildings.

Tiger attacks two people in five days as soldiers called in to hunt down big catTiger attacks two people in five days as soldiers called in to hunt down big cat

The shelling in the northeastern town of Vovchansk caused multiple fires including at its two-story municipal hospital.

Putin to force unemployed Russian men into fighting in brutal Ukraine warHundreds of thousands of jobless male recruits would be forcibly signed up when they turn up to the dole office (AFP via Getty Images)

Emergency crews evacuated eight civilians from the site before putting out the blaze, which caused no casualties, authorities said.

Vovchansk is in the Kharkiv region, which was occupied by Russia after its full-scale invasion began on Feb. 24 and subsequently retaken by Ukraine during a late summer counteroffensive.

The anticipated Russian push may seek to recapture territory Moscow lost in that counteroffensive.

Chris Hughes

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