The key facts

  • Daniil Zalozny was detained on October 19 in a drug case and sent to Pre-trial Detention Facility 'Kresty-2' in Kolpino
  • According to his mother, an inmate was sent to the young man in the detention facility with threats, after which he signed the contract
  • Relatives say he was taken to Voronezh Region and sent to the front; his mother turned to the military prosecutor's office and the Investigative Committee

What happened

In Saint Petersburg, 19-year-old Daniil Zalozny was detained on October 19 with a narcotic substance. The family's story was reported by Gazeta.Ru citing the young man's mother, who received the details via the Telegram channel 'Ostorozhno, novosti' (Caution, News). According to her, her son was beaten at the 52nd police department to obtain his phone password and a confession. Daniil was arrested on charges of drug possession and distribution and sent to Pre-trial Detention Facility No. 2 ('Kresty-2') in Kolpino.

Coercion into signing a contract

In late October, the young man contacted his mother and said that a detention facility employee was pressuring him to sign a contract with the Russian Armed Forces. After that, according to her account, an inmate was brought into Daniil's cell who threatened to beat him, smash his head against a radiator, and burn him with an immersion heater. Frightened, the young man signed the documents.

His subsequent fate and the family's appeals

According to his relatives, after signing the contract Daniil was taken to Voronezh Region and sent to the front. His mother filed complaints with the military prosecutor's office and the Investigative Committee. The agencies' reaction and official confirmation of these events are not provided in the publication.

Context

Gazeta.Ru recalls that the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces previously stated that conscripts would not be sent to the special military operation zone. The article also mentions a separate Ukrainian episode: a teenager found in the basement of a territorial recruitment center near Kyiv spoke about his abduction and an 'interrogation' involving beatings; according to Ukrainian media and relatives, people, including mobilized men and soldiers who had left their units without permission, were unofficially held in the basement. The teenager said he is in a Kyiv regional hospital with injuries. These two cases are united in the publication by the common theme of coercion, but they are separate incidents in different countries.