When 36-year-old Egor Sabinich finally sobered up after a night of drinking with friends in Petrozavodsk, a city in northern Russia, he assumed he was at a detox center. Later, he realized he was actually at a military enlistment office. The father of four had reportedly been detained by police and, while intoxicated, unknowingly signed a binding military contract.
"He was deceived," a relative told RFE/RL's North.Realities. "I am certain he had no idea what he was signing."
Russian human rights groups say such cases are becoming more common, with intoxicated men allegedly pressured or tricked into signing military contracts.
Sergey Krivenko of the Russian human rights group Citizen and Army told RFE/RL his organization is receiving a growing number of such reports.
"Either they (recruiters) sign for him while he's drunk -- like, literally moving his hand for him or something -- or they talk him into it," he said.
"Then, once he's sobered up, the recruiter says, 'Look, you signed, that's it. Now it's either the enlistment office or prison. Come with me, or you're going to jail,'" Krivenko added.
Russia's military is reportedly struggling with manpower shortages.
"Russia's casualty rate surpassed its recruitment rate in January 2026 after years in which Russia's recruitment rate consistently met its replacement rate targets," the Institute for the Study of War said.
Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has publicly declared nationwide partial mobilization only once, in 2022. But because the decree was never formally rescinded, the Kremlin has continued to replenish its forces through ongoing recruitment drives.
These have included prisoners, defendants under criminal investigation, and foreign nationals. While some contract soldiers are drawn by high salaries and bonuses, rights groups say coercion is increasingly used, including psychological and physical pressure on conscripts and serving soldiers to sign indefinite contracts.
A local lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous, told RFE/RL's North.Realities that police sometimes present contracts to intoxicated individuals under pretenses.
"In some cases, a police officer gives a contract to an intoxicated person and tells him it's confirmation of a search. The person signs it and later finds out he has been enrolled," the lawyer said.
He added that he has filed complaints with courts and prosecutors in several such cases: "Even if it wasn't signed by the person, by the time you prove it, you may die in the war a few times."
Alcohol, Drugs, And Gambling
There are also growing reports of recruits struggling with alcohol, drug, and gambling addiction, as well.
"The situation is becoming more and more sad every year," military analyst Aleksei Alshansky of the Farewell to Arms! project told RFE/RL.
"It has shifted away from the large cities and into villages, settlements, and rural areas. There, security forces -- using police or Investigative Committee vans -- drive around following lists compiled by local authorities, specifically tracking down people with alcohol addiction," he said.
Recruitment for money itself is becoming more difficult, rights group says. That's why recruiters, to meet quotas, even recruit people with alcohol dependency, because they receive bonuses for each person they bring in.
"Quality is also falling: Recruiting officers now complain of alcoholics, drug addicts, and the destitute," wrote Nigel Gould-Davies of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in February.
"Russian military leadership needs cannon fodder, not qualified soldiers," Pavel Luzin, a Russian military expert at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, told RFE/RL.
Given the unpopularity of a new mobilization, the Kremlin is expected to avoid formally announcing one, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has insisted Russia is not planning any.
"The main discussion among the Russian military leadership is not about another wave of partial mobilization but about focusing all available resources on the war," Luzin said.
"In fact, the discussion is about a totalitarian administrative-command model and its necessary institutional design," he added.
