Russian colonel asks women to send in their ex-boyfriend’s details so they can be ‘sorted out’

A member of Russia's Young Army Cadets National Movement gives flowers to a woman for International Women's Day 

Credit: Erik Romanenko\TASS via Getty Images

A Russian colonel has asked women to send in their ex-boyfriends’ details so they can be ‘sorted out’ in a video posted to mark International Women’s Day.

Yuri Khromov, a colonel of a local military commissariat in north-western Russia, posted a video on the official Instagram account of the Leningrad region, in which he urged Russian women to share social-media usernames of their exes in the comments below the post, so their former men could be sent to the army.

Using March 8 as a hook for the recruitment drive, he packaged his statement as ‘a gift for women,’ implying that their ex-lovers would ‘be taken care of’.

“Let me give you a little gift. Write the accounts of your exes, and we will meet them at recruiting points. And remember — a real man must have a military ID,” said Colonel Khromov.

He emphasised that Russian women should always be surrounded by “real defenders, not only protecting the Motherland but you [as women] as well.”

In Russia, the widespread problem with domestic violence has soared during the pandemic, activists say. A fifth of all women have been physically abused by a partner in the country.

On Monday, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, stressed the importance of women’s roles in preserving traditional family values in Russia.

“These long-standing traditions assert the role of women in our life, by preserving the genuine values that have always been and will remain an inspiring moral guideline,” Mr Putin said in a statement. He also praised female medical workers because of their "healing spiritual support."

"I thank all women-doctors, paramedics, nurses and nannies — everyone who rescues and takes care of patients in the ‘red zones,’ as part of ambulance crews, in hospitals and clinics. It has long been known that sensitivity, empathy, and an attentive, kind attitude are sometimes as much needed as medicine," Mr Putin added.