Mass media were not allowed to attend the assembly of families mobilized in Novosibirsk

In Novosibirsk, journalists were not allowed to meet the families of those mobilized with officials. This was reported by Sibir.Realii with reference to the publication “Kuryer.Sreda”. The meeting was held in the local DK named after the October Revolution.

The police made the decision about who could enter the meeting. According to eyewitnesses, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and officials, there were more people in the hall than relatives sent to the war with Ukraine. In total, about 30 people gathered for the meeting. Two film crews were also let inside: VGTRK and OTS TV channel, which is controlled by the regional authorities. Among those who were refused entry into the hall were the correspondents of “Kommersant”, NGS, REN TV and a number of independent media. They were told that this media was denied accreditation.

“The entrance is strictly through the frames with metal detectors. All the mobilized people and their relatives are searched inside the premises, they look at what is in their bags, they look at what is written on the posters. Most of the relatives do not want to talk to the media, everything is in a state of confusion, the police are checking what is on the poster everyone”, writes “Kurier.Sreda”. There are no messages about what was discussed at the meeting.

Earlier, relatives of those mobilized in several cities of Siberia, including Novosibirsk and Krasnoyarsk, were planning to hold a rally on November 19 for the return of their relatives from the war to their homes. However, the mayor’s office of Novosibirsk banned the action. Later, the authorities allowed a meeting to be held in the municipal DC: a letter from the vice-premier of the regional government, Andrey Klyuzov, was published in the “Meeting in support of the mobilized. Novosibirsk” community with his approval.

The organizers of the action demand to establish a time limit for those mobilized for war – 1 hour, to commission all the wounded, and also to expand the list of diseases, in the presence of which it is impossible to enlist in the army.

• The so-called partial mobilization in Russia was announced on September 21, 2022. The legal status of mobilization continues to this day, although calls to the army for mobilization are not carried out now. Those who were already mobilized for the war in Ukraine last fall will remain in the army until the end of the “special military operation” (as the Russian authorities call the war) – officials have repeatedly stated this, and the same position as asserted by a participant in a recent meeting with Vladimir Putin Alexander Sladkov, the president also adheres. Initiative groups of mobilized relatives usually require rotation – demobilization of their relatives and calling them to replace new mobilized ones.