Families look for Russian conscripts gone missing in Kursk

On August 9, Russian authorities declared a federal-level emergency in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces had already been advancing for four days. Anywhere from several dozen to several hundred non-mobilized conscripts may have been present in the region when Ukrainian troops crossed the border. They now face the brunt of the Ukrainian incursion. Journalists from the independent outlet Verstka spoke with the families of seven conscripts serving near the city of Sudzha to learn the fates of these young men.

A Ukrainian tank passes a civilian bus in Yunakivka, in the Russian Kursk region. EPA / George Ivanchenko

On August 5, Dilyuza’s brother called to say that commanders were confiscating their phones because they were 'expecting an inspection.' Dilyuza, from Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan, told Verstka that her brother and other non-mobilized conscripts were sent to Sudzha in May 2024 after completing training in Nizhny Novgorod. According to her, he was assigned to a military unit in the Bryansk region. At his post in the area around Sudzha, there were around 25 to 30 conscripts and contract soldiers.

'No matter how much they asked to be moved to a safer location, it was all just empty promises. On August 5, he called and said that the next day, they were finally going to be evacuated,' Dilyuza said. She doesn’t know whether that actually happened — she hasn’t heard from her brother since.

Yekaterina, Irina, and Svetlana lost contact with their sons, who were also stationed in Sudzha as conscripts, several days ago. On the evening of August 6, Svetlana’s son texted her to say that he was being sent into combat. 'We’re the last ones left,' he wrote. 'The others have already gone in as reinforcements. Some were wounded.'

'No one is even thinking about the conscripts'

Yevgenia from Novoaltaysk [in the Siberian Altai region] last heard from her nephew, who was conscripted in the fall of 2023, on August 7. He’d been sent to Sudzha in May or June 2024. When the Ukrainian army began shelling Russian positions in the Kursk region, he managed to let his family know that he was alive and hadn’t been captured, but he mentioned that 'many conscripts [had been] taken prisoner.'

Yevgenia’s nephew was stationed with 30 other conscripts. When she last spoke to him, he said those who weren’t killed or captured were awaiting evacuation. 'They’re waiting in a safe place, if you can even call it that,' she says.  'There’s nowhere safe there. Civilians are still being evacuated by ordinary, good people. Some are getting out on their own. It’s a disgrace. And no one is even thinking about the conscripts.'

Conscripts in Kursk

Two weeks after the beginning of the Ukrainian incursion in Russia's Kursk region, the Russian military appears to be preparing for protracted battles in the area: satellite images show that they have begun digging trenches and building fortifications about 45 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, writes Radio Svoboda. These defensive lines, however, can only be effective if they are manned with personnel.

One of the goals of the Ukrainian operation may be an attempt to pull Russian forces out of the Kharkiv region and the Pokrovsk area in the Donetsk region, where Ukraine has been struggling against the Russian offensive for months. There is indeed evidence of Russian troops being moved in from these areas, although reports of this have so far been rare. At the same time, Russia decided to use very young conscripts in the Kursk region. They took the brunt of the Ukrainian attack near Sudzha on August 6-7 and dozens of them were quickly captured by the Ukrainians. Military experts note that poorly trained and unexperienced conscripts are of little use on the front lines, but for Russia it is now important to delay the Ukrainian offensive for as long as possible, so that combat-ready units from Donetsk and Kharkiv can be moved in.

No proper military training

Now relatives of conscripts from other Russian regions have begun to report on their transfer to the Kursk region. They are actively writing about this on social media, contacting media outlets and asking human rights activists for help. Grigory Sverdlin, founder of Idite Lesom, an organisation which helps Russians avoid participating in the war, told Radio Liberty that, by law, a conscript can be sent to participate in combat under two conditions: he has served at least four months and has completed military training. Most of the conscripts who have personally or through relatives contacted Idite Lesom for help in recent days were called up in the spring of 2024. 'They served for two or three months, rather than four months. They received no proper military training. Therefore, formally, they cannot be sent to the combat zone, but their commanders are obviously much more concerned now that they will get a slap on the wrist if they do not promptly carry out the order,' says Sverdlin.

Holding the line

Yana, a volunteer providing meals to soldiers at the border in the Kursk region, told Verstka that she was in contact with a number of conscripts and that some were indeed being evacuated. However, she added, 'their fates vary.'

Yulia lives in Syktyvkar, the capital of Russia’s Komi Republic. Her son was conscripted in December 2023 and sent to the Sudzhansky district in April 2024. The last message she received from him was at 22:00 on August 5. Yulia says her son 'wasn’t allowed' to share much, but he tried to write every day and mentioned that lately, they’d been regularly shooting down 'birds' — Ukrainian reconnaissance drones.

Yulia doesn’t know what happened to her son, but she learned from other mothers that when Ukrainian troops crossed the border into the Kursk region, conscripts were 'holding the line,' and many were captured.

They’re treating us like we’re idiots

'When [the village of] Guevo was captured, the boys who were surrounded texted their mothers, begging for help. But we can’t get through to [the Defense Ministry hotline in] Moscow at all. The enlistment offices just tell us, "What nonsense are you talking about? They’re not there, their phones were just taken away." Basically, they’re treating us like we’re idiots. The hospital in Kursk won’t give us any information; they say they don’t have time, there are too many wounded,' Yulia says.

Ksenia from Orenburg told Verstka that her 20-year-old son Daniil managed to stay in touch with her as the incursion was unfolding and is now in a hospital in Kursk. Daniil was conscripted for compulsory military service in November 2023, completed his training in Russia’s Vladimir region, and was then transferred in May 2024 — first to the Bryansk region and later to Sudzha.

On August 6, Daniil texted his mother to say the Ukrainian army had begun shelling their position. According to screenshots of their conversation obtained by Verstka, Daniil also said he and three other conscripts were supposed to be transferred to the Russian–Ukrainian border temporarily. 'It’s even worse there; they’ve blown everything to hell, and now they want to send us there for holding. The bunker with all the supplies and weapons burned down, and they still want to send us,' he wrote.

Daniil was evacuated after coming under friendly fire in 'some abandoned factory,' Ksenia told Verstka. 'There was no electricity. Some soldiers came in and started shooting, thinking they were Ukrainians,' she recounts. 'They ran from the factory and then stumbled into some other guys from a different company, who got them out. It turned out it was our own troops, firing into the air. They thought there were Ukrainians there. He hurt his hand badly while running, so now he’s in the hospital.'

Those who were closer to the border were either killed or captured

Ksenia says her son texted her from the hospital to say that all the conscripts evacuated with him survived. 'But those who were closer [to the border] were either killed or captured,' her son told her. Ksenia says she’s grateful that 'God spared' her son from combat, but she’s outraged that the conscripts ended up so close to the border right before the Ukrainian operation.