When 36-year-old Yegor Sabinich finally sobered up after a night of drinking with friends in Petrozavodsk, a city in northern Russia, he thought he was in a detox center. Later, he realized he was actually in a military recruitment office. The father of four was reportedly detained by police and, while intoxicated, unknowingly signed a mandatory contract with the army.
"He was deceived. I am sure he had no idea what he was signing," said a relative.
Russian human rights groups say such cases are becoming more common, as allegedly drunk men are being forced or tricked into signing military contracts. Sergei Krivenko from the Russian human rights group Citizen and Army told REL that his organization is receiving an increasing number of such reports.
"Either they [the recruiters] sign for him when he is drunk, for example by moving his hand to sign or something like that, or they convince him to do it. Then, as soon as he sobers up, the recruiter tells him: 'Look, you signed, that's it. Now you face either the recruitment office or prison. Come with me, otherwise you will go to jail,'" he said.
The Russian army is reportedly facing a shortage of soldiers.
"Russia's loss rate exceeded its recruitment rate in January 2026 after years during which Russia's recruitment rate consistently met replacement thresholds," said the Institute for the Study of War.
Since launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has publicly declared a partial national mobilization only once, in 2022. However, because the decree was never officially revoked, the Kremlin has continued to replenish its forces through ongoing recruitment campaigns.
Recruitment has included prisoners, individuals under criminal investigation, and foreign citizens. While some contract soldiers are lured by high salaries and bonuses, human rights groups say coercion is increasingly being used, including psychological and physical pressure on recruits and serving soldiers to sign indefinite contracts. A local lawyer, who requested anonymity, told REL that police sometimes present contracts to drunk individuals under false pretenses.
"In some cases, a police officer gives a contract to a drunk person and says it is a confirmation of a check. The person signs it and later discovers they are registered," the lawyer said.
He added that he has filed complaints with courts and prosecutors in several such cases.
"Even if it is not signed by the person themselves, by the time you prove it, they could have died several times in the war," he said.
There are also reportedly recruits struggling with alcohol, drug, and gambling addictions.
"The situation is becoming more dismal every year. This has shifted from large cities to villages, settlements, and rural areas. There, security forces—using police or Investigative Committee vans—patrol with lists compiled by local authorities, specifically targeting individuals with alcohol dependencies," military analyst Aleksei Alshansky from the project, Farewell to Arms!, told REL.
Recruitment through monetary incentives is becoming increasingly difficult, human rights groups say. This is why recruiters, to meet quotas, are even enlisting individuals with alcohol dependencies, as they receive bonuses for each person they bring in.
"Quality is also declining: Recruitment officers are now complaining about alcoholics, drug users, and people in extreme poverty," wrote Nigel Gould-Davies from the International Institute for Strategic Studies in February.
"The Russian military leadership needs cannon fodder, not qualified soldiers," Russian military expert Pavel Luzin from the Fletcher School told REL.
Given the unpopularity of a new mobilization, the Kremlin is expected to avoid formally declaring one, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has insisted that Russia is not planning such a move.
"The main discussion among the Russian military leadership is not about another wave of partial mobilization, but about concentrating all available resources on the war," said Luzin.
"In fact, the discussion is about a totalitarian administrative-command model and the institutional design needed for it," he added.