Putin: mobilisation in Russia to end in two weeks

All mobilisation activities in Russia will come to an end in two weeks, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a press conference following the summits in Kazakhstan’s Astana.

According to Putin, 223,000 people have been drafted under the “partial mobilisation” out of the planned 300,000.

He added that 33,000 drafted soldiers were already placed in military units, while 16,000 were completing military tasks. The line of contact is 1.1 kilometre long, it is impossible to defend it with only contract servicemen, Putin claims. Nevertheless, he emphasised that “all draftees must go through mandatory training” and promised to order Russia’s Security Council to conduct a corresponding inspection.

The Russian head of state clarified that the Ministry of Defence had not increased the previously-announced mobilisation plan — to draft 300,000 people.

On 12 October, a source in Russia’s Ministry of Defence told Novaya Gazeta. Europe that the ministry had issued new mobilisation quotas to the regions. Another source within the administration of one of the regions in central Russia also confirmed that the federal government expects more men to be conscripted.

Alexey Smirnov, the Kursk region vice-governor, reported completing the quota on 10 October. He also said the federal government had issued new quotas to recruit additional men; this objective is already in progress in the region.

The military commissar of Buryatia also spoke about a “small additional draft” in the region.