Penza police call reports of forced recruitment raids ‘false’ but concede some men may have posed as officers

In the Penza region, police are dismissing claims of forced recruitment raids as "false," although they acknowledge that some men may have been posing as officers. The Interior Ministry's regional department reported that residents in the area are increasingly supporting lawbreakers and preventing police from detaining them. Local reports have surfaced of raids, abductions, and the coercive deployment of men to fight in Ukraine.

The police claim that certain residents of Penza are posting videos of individuals being detained and subsequently sent to draft offices, a claim the Interior Ministry categorically denies. While the agency does not completely rule out the possibility of individuals impersonating police officers, it is conducting a thorough investigation into these individuals.

The Interior Ministry expressed frustration with citizens interfering with detentions, stating that they are unaware of the serious consequences that will result from such crimes. Since mid-June, the residents of the Penza region have been reporting mass raids, with men being taken off the streets, coerced into signing contracts with Russia's Defense Ministry, and sent to fight in the war in Ukraine.

Authorities firmly deny these allegations. At Meduza, we take transparency seriously in our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. This article was written by one of our human journalists and translated into English from Russian using an AI model that adheres to our stringent editorial standards. Every draft undergoes review by a Meduza editor before publication.

Should you identify any inaccuracies in this translation, please reach out to us at reports@meduza.io. To access Meduza's exclusive English-language content, please subscribe to our newsletter.