Russian troops who have been part of a mobilisation drive for military operations in Ukraine can get their sperm frozen for free in cryobanks, Reuters reported quoting the state TASS agency. Citing Igor Trunov, president of the Russian Union of Lawyers, TASS said in its report that the Russian health ministry responded to his appeal for budgetary assistance with the plan.
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The ministry "determined the possibility of financial support from the federal budget for free conservation and storage of germ cells (spermatozoa) for citizens mobilized to participate in the special military operation for 2022-2024", Igor Trunov said. The report also said that families can use the stored biomaterial free of charge if their compulsory medical insurance indicates they can do so.
In the mobilisation drive in September, following Russian president Vladimir Putin, Moscow called up more than 300,000 reservists to support what it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine. The move prompted hundreds of thousands of Russian men to flee the country to avoid being conscripted, sparking the largest anti-Kremlin protests since Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.
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{{/usCountry}}The war has entered its 11th month and is now in a slow, grinding phase as bitter winter weather has set in. Meanwhile, Russian forces fired 33 rockets at civilian targets in the Ukrainian city of Kherson, Ukraine's military said, as fighting intensified. Fighting was also particularly intense around the strategic eastern city of Bakhmut in Donetsk province and Svatove, further north in Luhansk province, Britain's defence ministry said.