Since the beginning of the war, the Russian authorities have repeatedly denied the need for one General mobilization. That didn’t stop the President Wladimir Putin to declare partial mobilization to create confusion in the country and to fuel it panic among those who fear they will soon be drawn directly into the ongoing conflict. It is not yet clear who will receive the mobilization extension and if reservists he is prevented from leaving Russia. But on the eve of the planned statements by Putin and Shoigu, the Russians began to take an active interest in them flee abroad. After the first mobilization messages, the number of questions “how to escape from russia“ on Google increased. Hundreds of reserve soldiers immediately turned to the human rights organization agora, and asked if they were being called to mobilize. The fact is, some experts believe the presidential decree is vague enough to allow it recruit someone.
After the President’s speech, questions such as “draft denial“,”emigration“And for example”like breaking an arm“Shot up in a few hours. Consult opposition media military lawyers and publish Instructions on what to do for those who don’t want to fight. The anti-mobilization petition launched by the movement this spring Myagkaya sila (Soft Power), is gaining popularity and has already collected more than 250,000 signatures. “We are not willing to expose the men of our country — brothers, sons, husbands, fathers and grandparents — to moral, ethical or physical danger,” the petition reads.
The democratic youth movement Vesna (Spring) announced across the country the protests against the mobilization Shouting “No to moghilitation” (from the Russian word mogila, grave). “Thousands of Russian men – our fathers, brothers and husbands – are thrown into war Meat grinder of war. What will they die for?” is the call of the movement. Activists call on Russian citizens to gather in the center of their cities. “Now the war will really arrive in every home and in every family – Vesna writes – war is no longer out there, it has arrived in our country, in our homes, to take our relatives. And they must die to correct the mistakes of the Putin regime that plunged Russia into one monstrous carnage, isolation and poverty“.
Even supporters of Navalny They called for protests and promised help and support for any action, including the fire of the Wehrmacht offices. Protesters have already taken to the streets across Russia and over 1,300 have already been arrested. Meanwhile, sources close to the Kremlin, heard by opposition media Meduza, say that citizens’ dissatisfaction is “expected but not critical” and that “people who are too dissatisfied can still leave no one holds her back. Everything will be done little by little.”
Several independent Russian media have spread flyers on where to flee from Russia now, for example, with advice for those who do not have a passport. The problem is that because of the announcement of the mobilization, i flight ticket prices from Moscow and St. Petersburg have increased significantly. A few minutes after Putin’s speech, all tickets for direct flights are gone Istanbul and Yerevan they were already sold out. Direct flights to countries that do not require a visa are full from both Moscow and St. Petersburg. there Finland remains the only viable overland route from Russia to Europe and there is already news about it, currently unverifiable miles of lines which are formed at the entrance of the European country and also stopped by men at the land borders Georgia. At the same time the State Duma advised citizens in need of mobilization not to go abroad and not even to move within the country. The reservists and, for example, the doctors In Moscow they have already started receiving the summons.
Some governors of Russian regions actively supported the President’s decision within an hour of the publication of the decree on mobilization. Some have even organized themselves Mobilization Commissions the population. That Roskomnadzor (Federal Service for the Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media), in turn, warned the media that when preparing services for mobilization it is necessary to use only information disseminated by the authorities, otherwise a Immediate ban on “false information”. In the meantime, Igor Strelkov (Girkin), who had criticized the Ministry of Defense since the beginning of the war and called for mobilization, is again in demand on Russian television channels.
PARTIAL MEASURES – True, some Russian nationalists (like the Bolshevik National Party Other Russia) enthusiastically welcomed the President’s decision: “Comrades, congratulations on the start of a new world war! Total war against the Ukrainian state, which we have repeatedly called for, will inevitably provoke a reaction from countries hostile to us. New parties are drawn into the conflict, the sharing of the world will begin“. But at the same time, Putin’s vague move towards partial mobilization did not seem radical enough to Girkin and most Russian “patriots”. In fact, this decision is part of the overall strategy of “ostrich policy”, which according to the political scientist Abbas Gallyamovis being pursued by Putin: he has no plan on how to counter the Ukrainian counter-offensive, so for the time being he is pretending that nothing happened.
Also the political scientist Mikhail Komin thinks Putin is trying To buy some time: He was cornered because he has neither frontline success nor “selling” a real war to his populace. Western politicians also unanimously argue that Putin’s decision is a sign of weakness and military failure. In fact, full mobilization is impossible because, in the words of the journalist Mikhail Fridmanstand “simply perpendicular to Putin’s relations with the people” because “he has accustomed the country to lack of will and apathy for years”.
Presumably for the same reason, one has been held in the country since the spring covert mobilizationalready defined “Hybrid” and “crawl”. On street billboards, at bus stops and so on Receipts of payment for municipal services Invitations to join the army meet. Likewise in the St. Petersburg subway Military service was advertised. Volunteers to leave the front were already being sought in the autumn state-owned companiesin prisons and even in neuropsychiatric hospitals.
This is how the head of the human rights organization stands in September “recruitment school” revealed that the government had asked Russian Railways to do so Hire 10,000 employees for the war in Ukraine. They offer “bonuses” for participation. For example, from this year the children of fighters in Ukraine will be admitted to universities under special conditions: if a parent is wounded or killed in the war, their son can be enrolled without exams. Medics and maintenance personnel participating in the war can expect benefits (eg. pay half the cost of the condo) on par with the military.
In addition, at the beginning of July, the human rights project Gulagu.net referred to the private military company wagner He recruited inmates to take part in the war. You will be offered one reduced sentence until release and one cash rewardin addition to up to five million rubles (approx. 82,000 euros) to relatives in the event of the death of the prisoner. “If you don’t like it, send your children to the front“, Answered all complaints the head of the company Yevgeny Prigozhin. According to the non-profit foundation, inmates should be helped Rus’ sidyashchaya (Russia in prison) 10,000 prisoners were already recruited in September.
British intelligence reported that these and other signs suggest the Russian military has an increasingly acute manpower problem. But the presidential administration continued to deny the need for a general mobilization. To counteroffensive of Ukrainian troops in the region Kharkivcalls for mobilization sounded not only among the “patriots” and radical nationalists, but also among the deputies of the State Duma, while the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrovcalled for “self-mobilization” in each and every region and was publicly supported by several Russian regional governors.
Now the “patriots” and the “hawks” have achieved their goal: at least some kind of mobilization has been announced. But since the mainstay of Putin’s regime is not the citizens’ military enthusiasm, but their passivity, the analyst said Julia Latynina suggests that Ukraine possibly could Create conditions for mass exploitation of soldiers who were not willing to die for Putin. By the way, this morning, after Putin, the defense minister will speak Sergei Shoigu For the first time since March, he announced the number of deaths in the special operation: 5,937 people. In fact, judging even by open sources, there is much more, and former radio director Ekho Moskvy (The Echo of Moscow) Alexei Venediktov rightly asks: “So why mobilize?”