The chaotic and brutal mobilization in Russia continues to generate fear and popular anger. On Monday, the Kremlin admitted that the process was not going well. "There are cases where the mobilization decree has been violated," acknowledged his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, saying he hopes that "mistakes will be corrected."
Faced with the victorious push of the Ukrainian army, President Vladimir Putin ordered a “partial mobilization”. The Ministry of the Interior explained a little later that this would concern 300,000 reservists with military experience or the skills sought. But the publication of the decrees, which remain very vague on the number of mobilized, and leaks in the press evoking a million recruits have begun to worry.
Especially since, very quickly, videos, especially on Telegram, showed campaigns resembling raids more than a clear process and numerous cases of mobilization of middle-aged men, students, even sick, often without any military experience. These images provoked strong reactions, demonstrations and even attacks against recruitment centres. On Monday, a man opened fire at a military commissariat in Ust-Ilimsk, a town in the Irkutsk region of Siberia, seriously injuring an officer. The place probably owes nothing to chance as the Kremlin is accused of seeking to mobilize primarily in poor and isolated areas, but also in areas of occupied Ukraine, particularly in Crimea. This weekend, according to the NGO OVD-Info, protests took place in the Russian republic of Dagestan, a poor region of the Caucasus with a Muslim majority. Experts estimate that these marginalized areas have already provided a large share of the soldiers sent to Ukraine.
The call also caused a flight abroad. With around 17,000 entries for 13,000 exits, Finnish border guards announced on Monday that they had recorded the busiest weekend of the year for admissions of Russians, twice as many since the announcement of the mobilization. Queues have also been recorded towards Georgia or Mongolia. Dmitri Peskov however affirmed that there was for the moment “no decision” to close the borders. But this same Peskov had assured in mid-September that mobilization was not on the agenda...
Western sources doubt the ability of the Russian army to provide troops with the necessary training and equipment when tens of thousands of enlistment sheets have already been sent. “The haste with which Russia began its mobilization suggests that many of the recruits will be deployed to the front lines with minimal preparation. They will undoubtedly suffer heavy losses,” said the British Ministry of Defence. Mediazona, a Russian online media, publishes the testimony of a woman whose 45-year-old husband ended up in Ukraine after a day of training. He is now a private in the 3rd Armored Division, which is supposed to be an elite unit.
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