A military leader, referred to as The Commander, has dissolved his familial bond with his children, following a compulsive act where he deceived and coerced a subordinate into signing marital papers under duress.
Russian Conscripts Allege Deceptive and Threatening Recruitment Tactics
Three conscripts in Buryatia, Russia, have accused their junior lieutenant, Baikal Dasidorzhiev, of employing deceptive and threatening tactics to coerce them into signing open-ended military contracts.
The conscripts, Yuri Vitsinec, Daniil Kerereyev, and Denis Mozhaev, made their claims in a video released on July 23, 2025. In the video, they assert that they were tricked and coerced into signing indefinite contracts after being threatened with deployment to the front and told of high casualty rates unless they signed.
The conscripts served in unit 69647 in Kyakhta, Buryatia, where they joined the army in July 2025. Prior to their service, Vitsinec had hoped to serve quickly and return home to study and join his sister in St. Petersburg, while Kerereyev joined the army this spring from his hometown of Omsk. Mozhaev, who is due to become a father in less than two weeks, admitted to his family that not only was he threatened with death but also deceived.
The conscripts' case is representative of a broader pattern following Russia's 2023 legal reforms, which allow conscripts to be forced into contracts from the first day of service. Reports of intimidation and deceptive recruitment practices have surfaced in military units across Russia, including unit 69647 in Kyakhta.
The soldiers claim that Dasidorzhiev threatened them with being sent to Kursk, stating that only 70% come back and 30% die there. They also allege that the lieutenant promised them a year of service away from combat actions, and after a year, they could be discharged. However, the soldiers later found out that the contracts were lifelong, and they wouldn't return home until the end of the war.
The relatives of these conscripts have appealed to the military prosecutor’s office, but reportedly received no response, and there is no publicly reported progress or resolution to those appeals. In addition, the sister of the second conscript, Yuri Vitsinec, Natalya Ryazanova, has already filed a complaint with the military prosecutor's office accusing Dasidorzhiev of coercion to sign a contract.
Moreover, Aisel, Mozhaev's wife, states that Denis had no intention of signing any contracts and was deceived into doing so. She also reports that he was threatened with being sent to Kursk and "reset" if he refused to sign a contract. The relatives of the soldiers complain that the documents are still lying in Dasidorzhiev's office.
As of early August 2025, no public information indicates a formal investigation outcome or official response concerning the allegations that Russian military officials in Buryatia employed deceptive and threatening tactics to coerce these conscripts into signing open-ended military contracts. The ongoing silence from the military prosecutor’s office has raised concerns about the transparency and accountability of Russia's military recruitment practices.
[1] BBC News [2] The Moscow Times [3] The Guardian [4] The New York Times
- Amid allegations of deceptive recruitment tactics, reports of intimidation in general-news have emerged from military units in Russia, including the case of Yuri Vitsinec, Daniil Kerereyev, and Denis Mozhaev, who claimed they were coerced to sign long-term contracts in the politics and crime-and-justice sector.
- The ongoing silence from the military prosecutor’s office, despite the conscripts' accusations, has been a topic of discussion in various news outlets such as BBC News, The Moscow Times, The Guardian, and The New York Times, raising questions about the transparency and accountability of Russia's military recruitment practices.
