'Remember the gummies'

Pro-Kremlin bloggers downplay mobilization by comparing conscripts to candy

Using the hashtag #DontPanic, pro-Kremlin bloggers have started comparing conscripted soldiers to french fries and gummies in social media posts about how “small” the scale of the country’s mobilization actually is.

The independent Russian outlet Mediazona has found at least three of these posts. In them, bloggers from the far-eastern city of Khabarovsk call on men to stay calm, reminding them that the authorities are only planning to conscript 300,000 people, or 1 percent of the 25 million people who make up Russia’s “total mobilization base.” These figures were given by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu shortly after Vladimir Putin's September 21 mobilization announcement.

The influencers liken the soldiers-to-be to one percent of an order of french fries, one percent of a bag of gummies, or one percent of a woman’s makeup bag — a “negligible” amount, in their view. "Only one percent, friends!" wrote one woman. "Remember the gummies."

None of the bloggers offered any advice, however, to people who have already been conscripted.