'Beaten until they enlisted': Russia ramps up forced recruitment amid Ukraine losses - report

Russia is increasingly pressuring men into military service through alleged coercion, detentions, and beatings as voluntary recruitment slows, per The Wall Street Journal.

In Penza, recruiters reportedly detained and beat a man on his liver and kidneys to force him to enlist, with videos of recruitment raids circulating online.

Some regional programs, including in Penza, offer 100,000 rubles (about $1,300) to anyone who brings a potential recruit to a military recruitment office.

Military analysts cited by the WSJ estimate Russian casualties in Ukraine at around 30,000 to 40,000 killed and wounded a month.

Grigory Sverdlin, founder of the antiwar organization Get Lost, said that as fewer Russians volunteer to sign contracts, authorities face pressure to apply greater coercion.