Dagestan’s head admits to mistakes ‘at the beginning of mobilisation’ and promises to fix them after protesters block federal highway Khasavyurt-Makhachkala

Head of Russia’s Dagestan Sergey Melikov said in a post on his Telegram channel that it was necessary to fix the mistakes made at the beginning of mobilisation.

He added that among the men mobilised in Dagestan there were those who did not meet the criteria of mobilisation, students, fathers of multiple young children, and “boys that have never held a rifle in their hands”.

“I know that at the very beginning of mobilisation, such mistakes happened, among the reasons is the fact that some citizens had not informed military enlistment offices of circumstances granting them an exemption from mobilisation in time. Of course, there are real situations, but also there are fake stories on social media that our enemies dutifully spread through channels created from abroad,” his message reads.

Melikov noted that heads of cities and districts were personally responsible for committed mistakes.

Today, 25 September, protesters against mobilisation blocked the federal highway Khasavyurt-Makhachkala near the village Endirei, while the police were shooting in the air, trying to break up the protest. According to Telegram channel Tut Dagestan, 110 people were drafted in Endirei. “People came out to protect their sons, brothers, and husbands,” the message on the channel states.

On 22 September, residents of the Babayurt district in Russia’s Dagestan took to the streets to protest the “partial mobilisation”.