Tearful Farewells And Religious Blessings As Mobilized Russians Head To War Against Ukraine
Russian recruits gather inside a military processing center in Bataisk, in southern Russia's Rostov-on-Don region on September 26. A recent Ukrainian counteroffensive swept Russian forces out of most of the Kharkiv region, with reports of heavy losses of soldiers and weapons.
An Orthodox priest blesses soon-to-be soldiers.
Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has told his followers that "sacrifice in the course of carrying out your military duty washes away all sins." The patriarch's comments during his Sunday sermon on September 25 came amid nationwide protests and rising criticism over the Kremlin's recent announcement of a "partial mobilization" to replenish Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.
A drafted reservist says goodbye to his loved ones before departing.
Heavy fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces is under way in parts of eastern Ukraine and the northeast Kharkiv region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the eastern Donetsk region remained Ukraine's -- and Russia's -- top strategic priority, with fighting under way in several towns as Russian troops try to advance to the south and west.
Draftees arrive at an assigned gathering point in Bataysk.
The Ukrainian armed forces' southern command said on September 27 that its counteroffensive in the southeastern Kherson region had resulted in enemy losses of 77 soldiers, six tanks, five howitzers, three antiaircraft installations, and 14 armored vehicles. The claim could not be independently verified.
Tearful farewells were frequent among the families of draftees in the Siberian town of Tara in the Omsk region.
The number of people detained in Russia for protesting against the country's partial military mobilization has risen to nearly 2,500 across the country.
Drafted reservist Dmitry (last name not given) and his bride, Yevgenia, got married before his departure for a military base.
UN Human Rights Council investigators have concluded that Russia committed war crimes in Ukraine, such as bombings of civilian areas, "a large number of executions," "consistent accounts of torture," and sexual violence that included the rape of children.
A bus of draftees departs from Tara on September 26.
People bid farewell to draftees in the Siberian settlement of Bolsherechye in Russia's Omsk region on September 25.
Draftees attend a farewell ceremony outside a recruiting office in Bataisk.
Scores of draftees were processed in Bataisk before their departure for military bases.
Processing ran well into the night in Tara on September 26.
A recruitment poster in Moscow encourages men to join the mobilization.
The European Union plans to join the United Kingdom and others in imposing sanctions on the organizers of "illegal, illegitimate referendums" that are being conducted in four regions of Ukraine that are at least partially controlled by Moscow.
The referendums, which began on September 23 and run until September 27, have been condemned by Kyiv, Western leaders, and the United Nations as an illegitimate, choreographed precursor to the illegal annexation of the territory by Russia.