Russia’s Defense Ministry: Mobilization isn’t over, and here is why

In response to an official query from Pskov Legislature Deputy Artur Gaiduk, Russia’s Defense Ministry has issued a statement about the legal status of mobilization in the country.

Although the Kremlin has repeatedly insisted that mobilization is over, is has also stubbornly refused to document this on paper, and certainly to issue another presidential decree to formally end “mobilization activities.”

The Defense Ministry has now supplied the rationale for this resistance:

In the event of the decree losing power before the end of the special military operation, citizens drafted under mobilization and their family members would become ineligible for the extra social guarantees and compensation provided by the government and the senior officials of the Russian Federation.

The ministry’s letter claims that, while the draft as such has been over since October 28, 2022, all “other mobilization activities” listed in the president’s decree are still taking place. The letter leaves those activities unspecified.