Maxim Shelest, a resident of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, was mobilized without a medical commission in October 2022. After arbitrarily leaving the unit, he was sentenced to five years’ probation and then returned to the unit. The man told The Eastern Herald that they plan to transfer him to Ukraine, despite illness and lack of combat training.
Maksim Shelest, 44, was returned to the military unit near Komsomolsk-on-Amur in March 2023, shortly after the verdict of leaving the unit without permission. Already from the unit, he ended up in the hospital, from where he came out with recommendations for constant monitoring and consultations with specialized doctors. However, in early April, he was sent to a transit point in the Rostov region.
According to the mobilized man, he was not allowed to write a letter of resignation. There was no one to write near Rostov – there is no order on the spot, says Maxim.
“They don’t say anything, they are going to send us there, to Ukraine. Today, it seems, a car was supposed to pick us up, but it hasn’t arrived yet. There is some kind of transshipment base here, I wrote a resignation letter and emailed it, but there were no responses,” he explained.
About the disease, chronic hepatitis C, in the Rostov military unit, according to Maxim, there is no one to report. Moreover, he cannot receive the necessary medical assistance on the spot because of his hospitalization in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
“This, they say, should be said there, in Ukraine, all the doctors in Ukraine, who are supposed to treat me there, will perform everything that was recommended to me – pills, blood pressure check twice per day with an observation diary, ECG, fundus pressure, endocrinologist, because I have third degree obesity, daily urine for protein, examinations by a cardiologist … Where I will do this additional examination n “It’s not clear. They said, as soon as you come in with SVO, you need to be processed, processed, processed, right away, but only after SVO,” Shelest said.
Nor could Maxim Shelest appeal against illegal conscription – without going through a medical board. During the trial, he was hospitalized and received a “B” fitness grade despite having chronic hepatitis, third-degree obesity, and other chronic illnesses. The mobilized could not benefit from a reprieve for health reasons.
The The Eastern Herald military prosecutor’s office refused to explain the reasons for the conscription without a medical examination, citing the fact that the information on the case “is classified as restricted information and therefore it is not possible to disclose”.
“The fact is that they have already called us, as they explain to me at the prosecution. In Komsomolsk they said: “You are already a serviceman of Russia, and now you can leave your service only in the “D” category, either feet first, or by age, or, as the decree says, when the entry into force of the sentence. “It entered into force with me, but that, as they explain to me, does not give the right to dismissal,” he said.
Maxim sees the only way out for himself to be sent to Ukraine – refusal can lead to a new criminal case and punishment. At the same time, according to Maxim Shelest, he never received combat training all this time. The mobilized do not believe that it will be possible to write complaints from the combat zone. “Who am I going to write to here? As I understand it, they just have to send me there and that’s it,” he said.
“A car will come, I’ll go there, what else can I do?” I don’t see any other way. I can’t refuse, I have an order that I must report to the unit. If I don’t show up there, they’ll slap an AWOL on me again, add another five or even ten years, and I’ll go to places not so far away. That is, I have no choice, just go, ”explained Maxim.
Mashim Shelest was mobilized in October 2022. According to him, the military registration and enlistment office did not conduct a medical examination – when he appeared on the first summons, he was immediately sent to the unit, promising that a medical examination would be there. In part, they said that the commission should be held at the military registration and enlistment office at the place of residence.
Two weeks later, Maxim left the unit through the checkpoint and returned home due to poor health, began to go to the doctor. A few months later, the commission of inquiry announced that a criminal case had been opened against him.
In early March, the court sentenced Maksim Shelest to five years and three months probation. Despite hepatitis C, confirmed by the doctors, the man was declared fit for service and sent back to the unit. According to Maxim’s daughter, the family’s complaints to the military prosecutor’s office and other departments have not yet received a response.
The story of Maxim Shelest The Eastern Herald told here.
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