March 25, 2024

After Elections, Is It Time For Mobilizations?


After Elections, Is It Time For Mobilizations?
Russian soldiers handling military equipment.
Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, Wikimedia Commons.
 

On March 22, Russian independent news outlet Vyorstka revealed that the Ministry of Defense plans to draft 300,000 soldiers to encircle Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine. The timing isn't coincidental: according to the publication, the Kremlin has been waiting until the March presidential elections were over to begin a new wave of conscriptions.

Mass drafts are not popular in Russia. In September 2022, President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization, provoking over 700,000 persons to emigrate from the country. In September 2023, rumors swirled that Russia was preparing for a new wave of conscriptions. According to Vyorstka, authorities postponed drafting the mobilization until after the 2024 elections and asked pro-Kremlin media to avoid the subject.

The flow of people who voluntarily enlist to fight in Ukraine has significantly decreased. According to an unnamed Unified Contract Hiring Center employee in Moscow, quoted by Vyorstka, "Before, several hundred [recruits] came to the center, could be 500 to 600 (...) Now 20 to 30 new [recruits] arrive per day." Monthly salaries as high as  R805,000 ($8,273) have not incentivized potential recruits.

The first target of this alleged new wave is reservists, men who have signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense to serve as emergency manpower. They are active in the workforce but must complete military training twice a year. Despite having two million reservists, Russia has recently ramped up recruitment. A Trans-Baikal military officer told Vyorstka, "Something is coming (...) the ast [mass mobilization] the procedure was the same." A new center for conscripts is being set up in the Moscow Mayor's Office. In Leningrad Oblast, a military registration office pasted mobilization instructions onto reservists' identification cards. 

Conscripts from the "Mobilization 2.0" will allegedly be sent to Russia's southern border to free up more experienced personnel for the army's next objective: encircling Kharkiv. According to Vyorstka, a member of the Airborne Forces declared, "We are already going there, to Kharkiv." The publication noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been expecting a new attack in the eastern part of their country.

A military employee told Vyortska that 300,000 persons are expected to be called up on March 25, but no other source has confirmed the date. 

You Might Also Like

  • October 11, 2023

"Our Men Are Not Slaves; Bring Them Home"

Relatives of mobilized Russians are demanding the return of loved ones who have been at war for an extended period. Russian authorities are censoring their messages.
There Is Only Death There
  • September 28, 2023

There Is Only Death There

New statistics reveal that one in five mobilized Russians did not survive even two months in the Russian war in Ukraine.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955