Conscript died from bullet after refusing to sign a contract

Maxim Mironov, a 20-year-old conscript who died in the Kursk region, was buried in a hospital in the Sverdlovsk region. A report from his funeral was published by the European-Asian News agency, which is censored by the authorities.

Mironov was conscripted on October 22, 2025 and sent to serve in Naro-Fominsk near Moscow. During the service, in a conversation with his mother on April 25, 2026, he said that he was being forced to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense. As an alternative to contract service, he was offered a transfer to the border in the Kursk region with the status of a conscript. He refused the contract and ended up in the border area on April 30. The last time Mironov got in touch was on May 9, explaining that the officers were taking away the phones. Already on May 15, an unknown officer informed Mironov’s mother that her son had died. On May 27, an official notification of Maxim’s death arrived, stating that a spontaneous shot had occurred on May 13, which allegedly caused his death. The body was brought in a closed zinc coffin, which was forbidden to be opened. However, the family did it anyway.

“During the identification, we saw that Maxim had a gunshot wound, no eye, severe damage to his cheek. The wound is through, as the back of the head is sewn up. There are no other injuries on the body – no burns, no abrasions, no other injuries,” the relatives of the conscript said.

The military investigator in the case told the conscript’s mother and aunt: “Since it doesn’t look like suicide, and no one in our Kursk region could have killed him, I will put forward a version — improper handling of weapons.

“Maxim’s personal belongings were not returned by his relatives, citing the fact that they were still needed by the investigation. Mironov’s family suspects that a murder has been committed.