The Russian “partial mobilization” drive is over, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, said on late Monday in an apparent attempt to ease concerns that the Russian army would attempt to call more reservists than promised for its Ukraine war.
But the leader of Russia appeared to waver on how to formalize the finish of Russia’s first mobilization since World War II as experts alerted that verbal assurances without a presidential decree were non-binding.
Meanwhile, Putin said that, “Honestly, I had not actually even thought about ending the military call-up via a Presidential decree.”
“I’ll talk to lawyers about whether the end [of mobilization] should be announced by decree,” he said. “But it’s over, it was put to an end.”
Putin released the following statements hours after the Defense Ministry of Russia said that it had ordered enlistment officers to stop serving call-up papers and return to regular operations.
The Kremlin said isolated reports of Russian males are still being summoned because of “inertia.”
Defense Minister of Russia, Sergei Shoigu on last Friday said during a televised meeting with President Putin that Russia had hit its target of calling up 300,000 reservists in just over a month.
Shoigu told Putin that 82,000 recruits were already in Ukraine, 41,000 of whom have been deployed to military units.
Russia’s “partial” mobilization has been beset by mistakes, protests and a mass exodus to neighbouring countries since it was announced on Sept. 21.
Putin’s latest comments and the military’s announcement came on the eve of Russia’s biannual draft, which this year was pushed back by a month to Nov. 1.
The Russian military has vowed not to deploy the fall conscripts in Ukraine, a claim challenged by experts.
“Conscripts will almost certainly be deployed to Ukraine after their training is completed around March or April 2023,” the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War think tank said Monday.