Before Putin launched his expanded war in Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian military tried to avoid drafting those with psychiatric problems or mental retardation to serve in the ranks; but since then, to meet the military’s needs, such restrictions have been ignored and many who shouldn’t even be in the military are now dying in the war.

That is the judgment of various soldiers’ rights activists as reported by Regina Khisamova, a journalist for Radio Liberty who focuses on the particular problems of the North Caucasus........

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