2. Why single out Ukraine here? Isn't this what any country does with people who don't appear for the draft? (Unless they can pay a doctor to diagnose them with bone spurs or something?)
With the right papers clearing them of draft obligations, sure.
>2. Why single out Ukraine here?
Because this is the best example right now that everyone knows and can somewhat relate to. Unless you happen to know any other western country currently doing this.
https://united24media.com/latest-news/russia-starts-issuing-...
Which is still grown men abducting people in broad daylight, just not in Ukraine.
Basically the Russian's are conscripting people flying in to airports, both regional and international. With an added nuance of racism against non-Slavs.
And my current EU country would also draft me by force after I applied and got citizenship, which is why I don't do it. Sure, unlike Russia or Ukraine, I wouldn't be sent to fight in a war (for now), but many countries have mandatory conscription for their male citizens.
So there's nothing special or noteworthy about Russia's conscriptions of its own naturalized citizens, especially given its at war, so I don't get the point you were trying to make with that article you shared.
Did you assume that naturalized citizens would somehow be spared obligations of military service just because they weren't born there? That's not how citizenship works.
>> 1. This is a wild exaggeration:[1] There are lots of men walking in Ukrainian streets.
> With the right papers clearing them of draft obligations, sure.
So basically you agree with me that it was a wild exaggeration?
[1] Also your computer seem to have a bug where its clipboard selectively remove words (see the part in italics) from the text you quote without inserting ellipsis or any kind of marker to indicate it. The alternative would be that you very deliberately misrepresent what I wrote and that wouldn't be a nice thing to accuse you of.
2. No, my computer has no clipboard bug, I just don't want o clutter a thread by constantly quoting entire paragraph like you're doing, especially given it's clear from the context what I'm referring to give that you can just scroll up a bit and read the entire comment if you want to drive deep in the full conversation.
3. And you can drop the mafia style "it wouldn't be nice if I were to accuse you of X" tactics, since it's not a good look for arguments and I don't care what you want to accuse me of, I stand by what I say. By all means feel free to accuse if you want, but don't be a coy weasel about it.
But it's just an exaggeration claiming that anybody walking the streets are just grabbed and thrown into a van and shipped to a conscription office. That is not what is happening.
It's not that they get conscripted that's the problem, it's that people are being chased and violently thrown into vans of the street without any kind of warning or check of conscription status beforehand, Which I argued is proof the government doesn't need any kind of digital ID to oppress you..
There's video evidence of such events online, check X and Telegram. Just because it doesn't happen in the capital and places where tourists like you go to, doesn't mean it's somehow OK or that it's not happening in other regions like villages where it's less likely important people with influence live unlike the capital or large cities.
Russia has faked videos in the past even prior to the whole video Gen AI slop.
I will believe it when someone reputable runs a good investigation and does some real journalism rather than just sourcing Russian propaganda and suggesting reality is some lovecraftian nightmare
I wish this kind of nonsense “you are helpless” posting were forbidden by HN rules. It serves no useful purpose.
Ukraine is doing this without any digital ID. Just grab any man you see on the street, throw him in the van and ship him to the conscription office for processing. Requires zero technology just some big guys on a high protein diet and a 2005 diesel Ford transit.
People from countries without efficient centralized digitalized bureaucracy, like Germany, foolishly assume they're somehow safer from tyrannical governments like that. Just Tweet to Merz or Starmer that he is a dickhead traitor destroying the country with his policies, and see how far you can get before you get summoned to court for breaking hate speech laws.
In 2025, if the government in power sees you as a threat to its power and REALLY wants to find you, they will with or without you having government digital ID. Your ISP, your SIM card, your IMEI, networked CCTV cameras, Pegasus Spyware, Anduril drones, court subpoenas to digital service providers that have your information, acquaintances or public snitches turning you in for reward money, etc all these connect together and create a virtual fingerprint of you that SW like Palantir can aggregate and be used to find you, without you explicitly giving your government all your details via a digital ID.
Unless you're a Snowden level skilled operative at hiding your tracks, THEY WILL get you since the government has virtually unlimited resources compared to you.