In contemporary times, Russia has so far experienced only three official calls for mobilization: July 18, 1914 (during the First World War), June 23, 1941 (against Nazi Germany) and this September 21, almost seven months after the launch of the "special military operation" in Ukraine.
Admittedly, unlike the first two conflicts, Vladimir Putin made it clear that this was only a “partial mobilization” and not a general one – a possibility that greatly worried the Russians.
Still, many of those who heard the Russian president's televised address, which finally aired Wednesday morning after being scheduled for the day before, were in shock.
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Especially since the vagueness surrounding some of these announcements raises the specter of worrying developments and, for Russia, the risk of a big leap into the unknown
.
"Each generation can know
(the events of)
1941 but also the victory of 1945. We cannot lose the battle of Donbass"
, declared Gennady Zyuganov, the leader of the Communist Party (KPRF), generally loyal to the Kremlin. and he too fond of historical "comparisons".
Apart from the mobilization, the other salient point of the intervention of the head of the Kremlin, the possible recourse to nuclear weapons, froze the spirits.
"We will certainly use all means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people,"
Putin said.
"I say all the means (…) It's not a bluff",
he insisted.
300,000 Russian reservists mobilized
A sign, among others, of the onset of panic, flights to destinations close to Moscow and not requiring visas (Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, etc.) were taken by storm.
A flight to Yerevan (Armenia), bought for 12,000 rubles on Monday (214 euros), was worth 98,000 (1,750 euros) on Wednesday morning.
"I consider it necessary to support the proposal
(of the Ministry of Defence, editor's note)
of partial mobilization of citizens in reserve, those who have already served (…) and who have relevant experience",
declared Vladimir Putin in his speech.
His Minister of Defence, Sergueï Choïgou, intervened in the process to specify the methods of this mobilization, - with immediate effect according to Mr. Putin -, but which nevertheless raises many questions on its implementation, its effectiveness and the reception it will receive in the population.
According to him, 300,000 reservists will be targeted by this mobilization order, barely
“1.1% of the mobilized resources”
which he estimated at 25 million people.
Men under 35 (for soldiers and non-commissioned officers) and up to 60 (for senior officers) concerned.
Students and conscripts performing their military service will not be called up, said Sergei Shoigu
.
“We are not going to do like a combine harvester and catch everything, no”
, he wanted to be reassuring.
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The boss of Russia Today, Margarita Simonian has once again put her two cents on her
Instagram account.
Three categories of people can be mobilized, indicated this zealous relay of official words: 1. Those who have served in the army.
2. Those with a military specialty which is now required - like the doctors in Moscow who received a massive summons on Wednesday to go to the enlistment offices.
3. And above all, those with combat experience, Ms. Simonian further underlined.
Likewise, for example, drone operators, communications specialists should be approached as a priority.
Detainees recruited for lack of staff
After their recruitment, these people will undergo training or retraining and
"it is only then that they will carry out the tasks which are prescribed
to them ," said Sergei Shoigu.
Signs of a staff shortage have multiplied lately.
On September 14, a video, which went viral, showed a man resembling Evgueni Prigojine, the boss of the “Wagner” mercenaries recruiting inmates from a penal colony.
Those who arrive at the front and realize that they are in the wrong place (...), we shoot them
A Russian Recruiting Sergeant, known as "Putin's Cook"
"The first sin is desertion, no one backs down"
, warns this recruiting sergeant, known as "Putin's cook".
“After six months, you come home with a grace.
(…) But those who arrive at the front and who realize that they are in the wrong place, we consider them deserters and we shoot them
,” he adds.
How and by whom will these thousands of men from civilian life be prepared for combat and equipped?
How long will it take?
What will be their weight in the balance of forces present on the ground, when the Ukrainian forces continue their advance?
These questions arose, in Russia, the day after amendments to the penal code, voted Tuesday in the Duma to
“supervise”
this mobilization and more severely punish deserters.
Russian black humor
Officially, all the men who could be mobilized and who had not yet received their summons were free to travel, including abroad.
However,
"I don't advise you to go and rest in Turkey, rather go to Crimea
," said Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the Duma's Defense Committee.
As usual in Russia, humour, especially black, is never absent:
"An idea for a start-up, arm breakers"
, mocked a surfer, echoing the fear of many young people to be mobilized .
A new sequence, unprecedented and perilous, opened on Tuesday with the announcement that annexation "referendums" will be organized from Friday in four regions of eastern and southern Ukraine.
Initiatives denounced as "simulacra" by most Western leaders, but which will allow the Russian president to drape himself in legitimacy to defend the
"Russian territories
" of Ukraine if the army of Kiev tries to reconquer them.
Especially since Russian military doctrine provides for the possibility of resorting to nuclear strikes if territories considered Russian by Moscow are attacked.
The West in the sights of the Kremlin
Increasingly, it is above all the West that the Kremlin has in its sights.
In his speech on Wednesday, Vladimir Putin vigorously attacked the West, accusing them of having
"exceeded all limits in (their) aggressive policy"
and of wanting to
"weaken, divide and, ultimately, destroy our country
”.
"
We are fighting more against the collective West than against the Ukrainian army,"
then abounded the Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu.
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On Wednesday, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, refuted any change in the nature of the conflict, refusing to call "war" what remains at this stage still for the Russian authorities a "special military operation".
For the Russians, the latter denomination meant that the hostilities in Ukraine should remain outside their everyday scope.
This is no longer the case since Wednesday.
During the day, small demonstrations took place in several cities - Tomsk, Ulan-Oude, Irkutsk... - against the mobilization.
A few dozen people were arrested.