Scenes from a Russian Draft Office

<p>This fall, as Russia’s losses mounted in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin announced a draft. Almost immediately, hundreds of thousands of men fled the country, though many more stayed.</p><p>Valerie Hopkins, an international correspondent for The Times, spoke to Russians at a draft office in Moscow to gauge how they felt about going to war and who they blame for the fighting.</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/valerie-hopkins?smid=pc-thedaily">Valerie Hopkins</a>, an international correspondent covering the war in Ukraine for The New York Times.</p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>Across Moscow, there are noticeably fewer men at restaurants, stores and social gatherings.<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/19/world/europe/russia-moscow-army-draft.html"> Many have been called up to fight in Ukraine</a>. Others have fled to avoid being drafted.</li></ul><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit </p><p><a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily">nytimes.com/thedaily</a></p><p>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.</p>