A Russian IT specialist has been hiding into the woods since Vladimir Putin's announced a partial mobilization on September 21 to avoid being called up into the army, Russian independent media outlet Mediazona reported.
Mediazona, a news outlet founded by co-founders of the protest group and band Pussy Riot, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, identified the man as Adam Kalinin, a programmer from an unspecified southern region in southern Russia.
Kalinin has been openly opposed to the war in Ukraine, to the point that he was previously fined and arrested for several days for "anti-war actions," according to the outlet.
When Putin announced that he would call up to 300,000 reservists into the army to join the Russian military's efforts in Ukraine, Kalinin said that he immediately began preparing to go into hiding in a forest in the south of the country.
A week later, he was living in a tent in the forest, using a second one as his "office," he told Mediazona. He's been there for a month now and doesn't know when he'll be able to go back to his normal life yet.
"I always had an option in front of my eyes: either I will go to the store, and then they will take me by the arms to the military registration and enlistment office, or I will be in not very comfortable conditions in the forest, but free. It wasn't exactly an easy decision," he said.
Kalinin's years of hiking experience are now helping him survive in the forest.
"I love backpacking, that kind of thing. My wife and I often traveled somewhere in our free time or on vacation," he told Mediazona. "So we had some equipment, some experience. Of course, not everyone can go out and sleep in a sleeping bag, in a tent, just like that. And even my friends are surprised that I did."
He said that his wife fully supported his decision to live in the woods. Together, they set up a "food warehouse" (a trash can used as a food container) located about an hour away that Kalinin visits "from time to time like it's a shop."
For cooking and drinking, Kalinin uses rainwater that he collects using a plastic sheet spread over the grass. To charge his phone and laptop, the IT specialist uses solar panels and accesses the internet using an antenna mounted to a nearby tree.
Having his family in Russia is the reason why Kalinin hasn't left the country as many young Russian men did after Putin's call-up.
"Both friends and relatives are here. Somehow throwing the ends into the water, leaving—I am really not ready for this," he told Mediazona.
Kalinin stressed that while leaving seemed the better option, he doesn't want to run away from his country. "I would like for everything to get better and to help those who stayed here, including their relatives," he said.
Despite the difficulties of life in the forest—which he shares on his Telegram—he believes those men who has been drafted into the army have it much worse than he does.
"People get into these training units, and they are there in some completely wild conditions," he said. "Probably worse than me now. No one needs it, get everything for yourself there, buy everything. And besides, it is not clear why you are there. Someone explains this to their long homeland, someone else somehow. But I don't see any benefit from it at all. We are not defending anyone, of course, but we are attacking. And it's very sad."
Newsweek reached out to Mediazona and Kalinin for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek Reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. and European politics, global affairs ... Read more
