Muslim Leaders in Chechnya and Ingushetia View Alternatives to Military Service in Ukraine Very Differently

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Dec. 8 – Ramzan Kadyrov has imposed his views on Muslim leaders in Chechnya and like him they strongly oppose any young man from refusing to serve in the military because of conscientious objection, even though the Russian Constitution specifies that that is his right.

            But in neighboring Ingushetia, the authorities have not imposed such a view on Muslim leaders, a lawyer there speaking anonymously to the Kavkaz-Uzel news agency says; and as a result, young Ingush men feel themselves far freer to apply for alternative service rather than become part of Putin’s war in Ukraine (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/383791/).

            Even in Ingushetia, however, social pressure against making such a decision is very great, the lawyer says. Many who consider applying for alternative service don’t do so out of fear that if they do, they or their relatives may suffer now and in the future. Instead, those Ingush who want to avoid military service are adopting other strategies.

            Some of them move out of the republic in the hopes that those carrying out the draft or Putin’s partial mobilization order won’t be able to find them, and others are doctor shopping in the hopes that they will be able to find a medical person who will certify them unfit for military service.