Police in Penza threatened with liability for publishing information about “allegedly numerous detentions of men” to be sent to war in Ukraine

The Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Penza region published a second commentary on reports of mass detentions of men in the region. In it, the department again began to assert that the videos of the arrests “have nothing to do with being sent to the Northern Military District zone.”

“The development of this situation leads to rampant crime and impunity. We also inform you that persons disseminating false information will be held accountable in accordance with the law,” the Penza police added.

Earlier, a video appeared online in which women near one of the military registration and enlistment offices in Penza are trying to fight off men who allegedly signed contracts under pressure. The first police comment about the arrests came out on June 19. Then the department said that they were indeed “providing assistance” in finding men who, having received Russian citizenship, did not register with the military. At the same time, they assured that the detainees were not forced to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense.

Mediazona later contacted a woman whose husband was on the bus with 17 other men. She said that on June 16, her husband was caught by people in civilian clothes who got out of a FSSP car at a bus stop in one of the cities in the region. The man, who didn’t even have a passport with him, was brought to the bailiffs, who found no debts on him and sent him by taxi to the military registration and enlistment office. Moreover, the detainee never served and was not going to the front.

Despite the women's attempts to stop the bus, the men were taken out of the military registration and enlistment office at night. On June 17, the husband of Mediazona’s interlocutor called her from Rostov-on-Don. The next day - from occupied Mariupol.

On June 19, the Ministry of Defense responded to the situation: the official telegram channel of the department reposted a message from the “War on Fake” public page. In it, people writing about raids are called “fake shooters”, and detentions are called “raids to identify persons who have received Russian citizenship and have not registered with the military in a timely manner.”

Military Commissioner of the Penza Region Andrei Surkov, in a conversation with Mediazona, called the video staged.