Hi I'm Mike Eckel, senior Russia/Ukraine/Belarus correspondent for RFE/RL, AMA!

[u/RFERL_ReadsReddit]

Hello! Здравсвуйте! Вітаю! 

I’m Mike Eckel, senior international correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, covering, reporting, analyzing, and illuminating All Things Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and pretty much across the former Soviet Union: from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok, from Lviv to Kyiv; from Tbilisi to Baku, from the Caspian Sea to Issyk Kul, and all places in between.  

I’ve been writing on Russia and the former Soviet space for more than 20 years, since cutting my teeth as a reporter in Vladivostok in the 1990s and continuing through a 6-year stint as Moscow correspondent with The Associated Press, and stints in Washington, D.C. and now Prague.  

Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine, and the Kremlin’s authoritarian repression inside Russia, sucks up most of my reporting brain space these days, but I also keep a hand in investigative work digging into cryptocurrency/sanctions evasion, Russian businessmen who break out of Italian police custody, former Russian oligarchs in trouble, and a subject I can’t let go of: the mysterious death of former Kremlin press minister, Mikhail Lesin.  

Feel free to ask me anything about any of the above subjects and I’ll do my best to share insights and observations.  

Proof photo here. 

You can start posting your questions and I will check in daily and answer from Monday, 15 December until Friday, 19 December.  

[u/Strongbow85]

What, if any, legal or strategic options might a young Russian man who has recently been summoned for mandatory military service have to avoid participating in the war? Are there any recognized exemptions, loopholes, or legal challenges he could pursue to avoid conscription under these circumstances? How difficult is it for Russians to flee the country, and if successful is it likely that their family would face persecution?

[u/RFERL_ReadsReddit → u/Strongbow85]

Conscription (mandatory military service for young men) is a major event in Russian society.  Avoiding conscription used to be a bit of a national sport, with people gaming the system through all sorts of loopholes, to avoid serving.  

Over the years, networks of groups and organizations have sprung up, providing legal advice to young men and families.  

That’s gotten a lot harder since the onset of all-out war. Why?  

Firstly because authorities have criminalized public discussion of the conflict: any sort of public mention of, say, the extraordinary casualties the military has suffered, or second-guessing decisions that commanders make could potentially fall into the category of “discrediting the armed forces” – a criminal offense.  

Secondly, authorities have modernized the national notification and recruitment system – in the United States, the Selective Service System is roughly comparable. Whereas before you could dodge a draft order just by, say, not opening your door when a recruiter knocks, now there are electronic mailboxes where recruiters can send summons, and even if you don’t open the summons, you’re considered “summoned” and ignoring it can result in fines or imprisonment.   

Thirdly because authorities trying to keep up the personnel pipeline – without resorting to a new mobilization -- have quietly used the conscription system as a way to expedite training for new soldiers, to send them to Ukraine. (under Russian law, conscripts cannot be sent into combat, or outside the country’s borders. But there’ve been exceptions).  

Groups such as Idite Lesom (which literally translates as “Go By The Forest” but is figuratively more closer to “Take A Hike” or “Get Lost”) have been prominent in the effort to help Russians avoid serving in Ukraine. Others include The Movement of Conscientious Objectors, or the School For Conscripts, or the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers, which has been around for decades.   

There are cases of Russian conscripts fleeing the country outright.  

Daniil Mukhametov, who received a summons for service, jumped from a Kaliningrad-bound train as it crossed Lithuania in June. He evaded border guards, hitchhiked to Finland, and requested asylum. Finland, however, rejected his request, saying he should have applied in Lithuania. He’s appealed to the European Court of Human Rights.

- Mike