Mobilized Soldier: Wolves of War — A Commando Who Was Once a Merchant Takes You to the Frontline's Harsh Truth

Russia has once again reported that a second wave of mobilization is coming. Three years ago, on September 21, 2022, Russia launched the first mobilization, and 300,000 men took up arms and went to the battlefield. Now, those who survived and were not seriously injured are still fighting. Over the past three years, many people who were once ordinary citizens have gradually shown military talent, becoming true "wolves of war." The magazine "First in Russia" will reveal the harsh truth of the frontline for you.

Sergei Stroganov (a pseudonym), a former businessman, was one of the first mobilized personnel from the Saint Petersburg area in 2022. Later, he stood out in the field of military reconnaissance. He told "Tsargrad" about his comrades' heroic deeds and the difficult times they experienced together.

Merchants, Beggars, and Police in the Trenches

Before the war, Sergei was the general manager of two companies, with an annual turnover of 200 million rubles, and his personal monthly salary was about 1 million rubles. He had built sales teams for several enterprises and helped expand their businesses.

After the special military operation began, Sergei tried multiple times to go to the front as a volunteer but was repeatedly rejected — because he had no experience in active service and did not meet the health standards for conscription. Friends advised him, "You're a businessman, why go? You have three children at home." But as a native of Saint Petersburg, Sergei never wavered. He said:

"My grandfather participated in the Soviet-Finnish War in 1939 and then joined the campaign against Japan in 1945. I know that the knowledge and skills I possess can not only be useful in the rear but also be effective on the front line."

In the autumn of 2022, the situation on the front line deteriorated rapidly, and the mobilization order was issued, expanding the conscription to all eligible males. After communicating with the conscription office, Sergei Stroganov joined other mobilized soldiers and went to the battlefield.

"The average age of the soldiers in our unit was 42, and 80% of them were mobilized from civilians. Even some officers, including company commanders, had no prior connection with the military — they were mostly people who had graduated from military academies and retained the rank of reserve lieutenant, but before the special military operation, they even didn't know how to disassemble an automatic rifle."

"But after a year and a half, the commanders of the platoon and company became truly qualified leaders — they were determined, brave in heart, and had mastered excellent combat skills. For example, the commander of our company used to sell shoes. It's really interesting to see these pure civilians gradually transform into warriors," Sergei recalled.

He had seen all kinds of mobilized soldiers: beggars from shelters (interestingly, these people performed quite well in combat); he even had a district police chief who was mobilized for some unknown reason.

At the beginning, I suppose some people remember that the official statement was that mobilized soldiers would not be sent to the front line, but rather deployed in the second or third lines. However, this was not the case. Sergei Stroganov saw 20-year-old mobilized soldiers from Belgorod camp, who were taken into battle only five days after leaving the conscription office.

Mobilized Soldiers from Baikal Go to Russian Training Centers

(Image of mobilized soldiers departing. Source: News Department of the Zabaykalsky Krai Government)

"Mom, take me away from here!"

After arriving at the front, the first thing Sergei did was to try to call home. But calling from the front line is a real "skill."

"First, you need a phone with good antenna signal; second, you need to find a place where you can connect to Ukraine's 'Kyivstar' mobile network base station, like a small hill. And 'connecting' doesn't mean the phone has a signal, but the screen only shows a weak flickering signal. You have to stay still in that location, afraid the signal will disappear. Stand there, fiddle with the phone repeatedly, maybe you can get through thirty times to make one call. But while you are standing and trying, the enemy has already aimed their mortar at you based on this signal. At that time, I was using a German phone card to confuse the enemy."

Once, after making a call, Sergei returned to the bunker and met a 19-year-old mobilized soldier named "Rabbit." "Rabbit" begged Sergei to take him to make another call to inform his mother. Sergei agreed and took him to the same hill where he had found earlier, successfully dialing the number. He handed the phone to "Rabbit" and lay down nearby to keep watch.

"When 'Rabbit' heard his mother's voice, he suddenly broke down emotionally. At that moment, mortars had already started shelling, but he knelt on the ground and cried out, 'Mom, take me away! I can't take it anymore!' The phone was on speaker, and I could hear his mother crying on the other end, 'My child, I've done everything I can...' The shells were getting closer — mortars usually fire straight, so you must leave the firing area immediately. I shouted at him, but he didn't respond."

Stroganov forcibly pulled "Rabbit" under a tree nearby. "Rabbit" kept muttering, "I really can't take it anymore." To comfort him, Sergei said, "Believe me, you can get through!" Later, "Rabbit" survived. Half a year later, the two met by chance. At that time, Sergei was hospitalized due to injury, and after being discharged, he walked on the street when a stranger soldier approached him:

"Don't you remember me? We once called from near Makievka."

It turned out that shortly after that call, "Rabbit"'s unit was moved to a new position, suffered heavy losses almost completely destroyed. "Rabbit" was lightly wounded and sent to the hospital, and then joined a new unit. Half a year later, he was a different person: the previous "Rabbit" was thin, and his helmet looked like a bell swinging around his head; now he was strong, calm, and determined.

"This story reflects the experiences of all mobilized soldiers. After overcoming the initial shock, they gradually adapted to the war and grew into real warriors in the flames of war," Sergei said. Fear in the war is relative: "Sometimes you feel like a hero, sometimes you feel like a coward. Maybe you can remain motionless under artillery fire in one moment, but in the next moment, during a night-time transfer, you might be scared by the sound of a branch breaking. Adrenaline surges cause the body to instinctively seek survival, keeping the brain alert, ultimately completing the necessary task."

"There was a young man in our unit who ran to a nearby village and hid for two months after joining the battlefield. Later, he voluntarily returned to the unit to redeem himself, vowing to save injured comrades. No matter day or night, whether or not there was artillery fire, whenever the radio broadcasted 'there are casualties,' he would crawl over to rescue them. In the spring of 2023, he saved many people, and everyone called him 'the Saint.'"

"Fortune smiled upon 'the Saint.' He is now back home — although he was also injured, it wasn't serious, and he has all his limbs intact."

How to Survive in 'Hell'

For these mobilized soldiers who had just transformed from civilians, there were too many reasons to feel fear and despair at the beginning. Sergei Stroganov described their life on the battlefield like this:

"In winter, the temperature was minus 21 degrees, and we couldn't light a fire for warmth. We could only rely on each other's body heat to keep warm. Humanitarian aid supplies were unreliable because transporting these supplies to the front-line trenches required crossing several kilometers under artillery fire. Try carrying a 40-kilogram stove under artillery fire? During the thawing period, everywhere was muddy, and everyone was covered in mud. The water in the trenches reached the ankles, and we could only dig a small pit and lie sideways in relatively dry places to sleep. How many times did we drink from puddles, almost surviving in the swamp — because it was impossible to leave the trenches, not even to stick your head out."

Bottom of the Trench (Photo provided by Sergei Stroganov)

The worst part was that the enemy regularly dropped chemical weapons on them. "I wasn't directly in the center of the chemical weapon attack, but I experienced breathing difficulties and severe coughing, and my lungs suddenly started producing a lot of mucus. Those directly exposed to chemical weapons, according to what I saw, suffocated and crawled on the ground, covered in mucus and saliva, eyes wide open, like zombies," he said.

Even regular artillery attacks were enough to become a test of life and death:

"When the enemy's artillery covered the area you were in, the air would become as thick as water. Lying on the ground, you could see an ant crawling, and even hear the sound of its crawling — your senses would become unusually sharp."

"365 days a year, no weekends, no rest," Sergei believed that the most important thing in war was to make your mind understand: "Why is your body here, why do you have to do things that your instincts resist. You must accept everything from the bottom of your heart. On the battlefield, you must learn to 'live,' not just 'survive' — this is how you can endure. If you can't, you might lose your life in non-combat situations."

"Everyone has their own way of convincing their mind and their own way of enduring the brutal reality of the front line."

"Fallen into such a 'hell,' some pray, some talk to their relatives. I once saw someone even talking to their relatives while charging and running. I asked one of them, 'Why are you always muttering?' He replied, 'I'm talking to my wife.'" Sergei recalled.

In such an environment, just living is a form of heroism. But mobilized soldiers also actively perform heroic acts.

The Guardian of the Assault Troopers

Sergei Stroganov told the story of the sniper platoon leader code-named "Yesenin." "Yesenin" was not a professional sniper — not one who had trained for countless hours on the shooting range, but a regular mobilized soldier who learned sniping skills on the battlefield.

Once, "Yesenin" led five snipers and saved two assault companies. The battle took place at a famous position in the special military operation, which was as fierce as the Battle of Bachmut.

"After the assault troops captured the enemy position, they were temporarily carried away by excitement and continued to push forward — despite the fact that they shouldn't have done so. As a result, the attack was blocked, and the enemy immediately launched a counterattack. At that moment, 'Yesenin' and his sniper team repelled the advancing Ukrainian forces, allowing our assault troops to withdraw without casualties."

"At that time, 'Yesenin' had 75 confirmed kills on his record, but in reality, it was definitely more — he himself couldn't even count exactly how many," Sergei said.

He also explained the process of "confirming the kill": "He had video recorded by the sniper scope camera in his phone: three enemy soldiers ran toward the observation post, one of them was hit and disappeared from the footage. The sniper would send this video to the command, along with photos of the enemy soldiers' corpses taken by drones, which would count as a 'confirmed kill.'

However, saving two companies was not the only heroic act of the mobilized soldier "Yesenin" that went unrecognized in the commendation orders.

"In 2025, 'Yesenin' died. At that time, he and other snipers were on a mission in the 'gray zone' (buffer area between enemies). Suddenly, the Ukrainian forces launched an attack. They couldn't quickly and secretly evacuate their camouflaged positions, so they opened fire on the attacking Ukrainians, which exposed their positions. The snipers held out for a week, and eventually, all of them died — the Ukrainians threw anti-tank mines at them. Their bodies lay in the 'gray zone' for seven months until recently they were transported to Rostov-on-Don."

Sniper Code-Named "Yesenin" (Photo Provided by Sergei Stroganov)

Sergei believes that "Yesenin" fully deserves the "Star of the Hero" medal. "On the battlefield, I have never seen a better sniper than him. But the commendation issue for mobilized soldiers has always been very bleak."

"I have a comrade, also a mobilized soldier. He fought in the war zone for a full three years, never disobeyed any orders. Now he's only 25, but he has been injured three times. Two weeks ago, he stepped on a mine and lost a leg. But he hasn't even received a single medal, let alone being awarded the rank of private first class."

Sergei himself was hospitalized four times — each time due to injuries sustained during a raid. After each recovery, he returned to the front line. Each time he stayed in the war zone for a while, his weight decreased by 20-30 kilograms. After the fourth injury, he underwent medical evaluation and was discharged from the army and returned to his hometown.

What Does Victory Require?

From a businessman's perspective, he lost everything. "The companies I helped develop before going to the front now have an annual turnover exceeding 1 billion rubles. But those bosses who supported me during the war said, 'That's it, we're even now' after I came back."

"I used to have three cars, now I only have one; the house needs repairs; I used to earn 1 million rubles a month, now I'm in debt."

On this point, his experience is similar to many mobilized soldiers — their families also made sacrifices for the victory.

But Sergei believes that the core issue faced by mobilized soldiers is not material loss, but "uncertainty":

"How did they promise at the beginning? 'Service for 6-8 months, with rotation.' Everyone normal thought, 'Serving the country for 6-8 months, that's fine.' But in reality, for mobilized soldiers, the war became an indefinite task. But normal people want to live a good life. If someone now asks me to sign a contract to return to the special military operation battlefield, I might go, even without money — but only if I can be 100% sure that the contract says 6 months is 6 months, 1 year is 1 year, not two or three years, or 'until the war ends.' "Sergei admitted.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7552409566722409003/

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