The announcement had led to the exodus of a hard-to-quantify crowd of Russians who fled the country for fear of being sent to battle. Finally, just over a month after Vladimir Putin’s speechRussia claims to have completed the mobilization of 300,000 reservists in connection with the conflict in Ukraine.
“The task of recruiting 300,000 people has been completed,” Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Russian television, sitting across from Vladimir Putin. “No additional tasks are planned,” he added, indicating that Russia does not foresee any further mobilization of reservists, civilians, in the immediate future.
For weeks, rumors of a much larger mobilization made young Russians who could be mobilized fear the worst. However, the defense minister added that Russia continues to recruit volunteers and contract soldiers.
“Thank you for this loyalty to duty, for this patriotism”
According to Sergei Shoigu, 218,000 reservists are being trained in Russian military bases, and 41,000 are already deployed in military units fighting in Ukraine. Finally, 41,000 others are in the conflict zone but are still undergoing training. This is especially the case in the Lugansk People’s Republic, one of the four regions annexed by Russia at the end of September.
