The post you linked is interesting but omits one crucial consideration—most of Russian soldiers probably have their families back in Russia, and it’s very likely that deserters’ families would be harassed, given that there are already many human rights’ violations going on there.
Case in point—https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/world/europe/13hazing.html—one of the Russian soldiers lost his legs in (peacetime) brutal hazing. His family was pressured with bribery to drop the charges against the army (they didn’t). It’s not hard to imagine similar, albeit brutal pressure put on families of deserters.
The post you linked is interesting but omits one crucial consideration—most of Russian soldiers probably have their families back in Russia, and it’s very likely that deserters’ families would be harassed, given that there are already many human rights’ violations going on there.
Case in point—https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/world/europe/13hazing.html—one of the Russian soldiers lost his legs in (peacetime) brutal hazing. His family was pressured with bribery to drop the charges against the army (they didn’t). It’s not hard to imagine similar, albeit brutal pressure put on families of deserters.