Russian Official Killed Just Days After Joining Army—'No Combat Experience'

A Moscow government official who was conscripted as part of President Vladimir Putin's mobilization decree, despite having no combat experience, has been killed in Ukraine, according to the deputy editorial director at RT, a Russian-state media broadcaster.

Aleksey Martynov, 28, the head of a department within the Moscow city government, was reportedly mobilized on September 23 and killed on October 10 while fighting in Ukraine.

"In his youth he served in the Semyonovsky Regiment," Natalya Loseva said in a statement on her Telegram channel. "He had no combat experience. He was sent to the front after basically a few days. He died heroically on October 10."

According to Meduza, a Latvia-based Russian language independent news outlet, the Semyonovsky Regiment provides security to the Russian president and the Kremlin.

Putin's September 21 mobilization order is, according to defense officials, meant to apply to 300,000 reservists and ex-military personnel with "certain military specialties and relevant experience."

However, since the decree was announced, multiple reports have emerged of ineligible men being called up for military service.

"Military leaders, now is not the time to lie. You can't lie at all, and now it's a crime," Loseva wrote, describing Martynov as a "warrior" and a "friend and colleague" of her close friends.

In the weeks since Putin's mobilization decree was announced, multiple conscripted Russians have died before reaching the battlefield, while others have died shortly after being deployed in Ukraine.

Russia's state-run news agency Tass reported that the body of a soldier had been found on the site of the Novosibirsk Higher Military Command School in Siberia, according to the regional human rights commissioner Nina Shalabayeva, Newsweek reported on October 8.

Local news outlet Sibkray.ru reported that the man was from Novosibirsk and, according to relatives, had died "as a result of violent actions."

The name of the conscript and how long he had been in his unit is unknown. Shalabayeva told the outlet that investigators were looking into the death and "are not giving more information."

Other deaths of mobilized troops have been emerging. Human rights lawyer Pavel Chikov said on October 3 that at least six newly drafted soldiers had died since September 21.

Russian authorities confirmed on Thursday that five newly mobilized troops from the Chelyabinsk region had been killed in action in Ukraine.

BBC's Russian service cited fellow service members as saying that new recruits are being sent to fight in Ukraine without prior training.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's foreign ministry for comment.