Enlarge image
Russian President Vladimir Putin during his televised address
Photo: Uncredited / dpa
What exactly was announced?
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a partial mobilization of the armed forces.
A corresponding decree has been signed, Putin said in a television speech.
“In order to protect our homeland and our integrity, I think it is necessary to support partial mobilization.” He is following the Ministry of Defense's suggestion.
It's about defending Russian territories, Putin said.
The aim is to "liberate" the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass.
The West didn't want peace between Ukraine and Russia; rather, it wanted to destroy Russia.
Russia will use all of its resources to "defend its people."
Putin also announced that he wanted to increase domestic arms production.
To this end, he had ordered the necessary funds to be increased.
What is partial mobilization?
In a general mobilization, men from the population are generally drafted into the army.
Partial mobilization affects a smaller circle here.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu substantiated Putin's announcements in an interview that was broadcast afterwards.
The partial mobilization therefore only affects people who have already served or have military experience.
In total, there are 300,000 people, said Shoigu.
Students should not be drafted.
According to Schoigu, regular recruits who are doing their military service should not be affected by the partial mobilization either.
Why is partial mobilization coming now?
Until now, Putin had always insisted that the "special military operation" in Ukraine should only be conducted by professional or temporary soldiers and volunteers and that no one would be forced to take part.
Instead of calling up Russian conscripts, alternative solutions were used - for example by recruiting prisoners or forcibly mobilizing residents of the Ukrainian Donbass.
But Russia's failures have evidently caused a rethink.
It has long been evident that there is a lack of staff or that they are running away.
Many contract soldiers (»Kontraktniki«) refused to be deployed in Ukraine and asked to be released.
So far, they could only be prosecuted with disciplinary sanctions.
Most recently, getting out of military service has been made more difficult.
Will partial mobilization bring anything to Russia?
The military benefit of partial mobilization is more than questionable.
Some of the recruits are likely to have to go into battle with poor training, little experience and low morale in the short term - the same deficits that are partly responsible for Russia's previous military failures.
Theoretically, the new recruits could, at least in the long term, fill the military's staffing shortage if they were trained appropriately over the winter.
However, training is one of the army's greatest structural weaknesses, and one that is unlikely to be remedied any time soon.
What's with the alleged referendums?
Immediate pseudo-votes on union with Russia are to be held in Moscow-controlled areas of Ukraine.
While the "referendum" in Crimea in 2015 was highly controversial, the planned referendums in the occupied Donbass are downright bizarre.
Because voting is done on territories that are either contested or not under Moscow's control at all.
Of the four areas in question, only the self-proclaimed “Luhansk People's Republic” is largely in Russian hands — and that, too, could change if Ukrainian troops advance further.
By holding such »referendums«, Vladimir Putin is looking for a new escalation.
He wants to use it to stop the advancing Ukrainian troops.
After all, once the areas in Ukraine are declared part of Russia, Moscow's logic is that Ukrainian troops would directly attack Russian territory.
til/heb/oim
