Russia’s Defense Ministry: Mobilization isn’t over, and here is why
In response to an official query from Pskov Legislature Deputy Artur Gaiduk, Russia’s Defense Ministry has issued a statement about the legal status of mobilization in the country.
Although the Kremlin has repeatedly insisted that mobilization is over, is has also stubbornly refused to document this on paper, and certainly to issue another presidential decree to formally end “mobilization activities.”
Uncertainty around Russia’s mobilization
- Putin spokesman says mobilization order still in effect because it ‘includes other measures’ beyond call-up
- Putin administration says mobilization order ‘remains in effect,’ contradicting past statements
- The Moscow Times: Kremlin bans media under its control from reporting on mobilization
- Human Rights Commissioner receives many complaints about “de facto complete” mobilization
- ‘Partial mobilization is over, full stop,’ says the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Why doesn’t Putin sign a decree to make this official?
The Defense Ministry has now supplied the rationale for this resistance:
In the event of the decree losing power before the end of the special military operation, citizens drafted under mobilization and their family members would become ineligible for the extra social guarantees and compensation provided by the government and the senior officials of the Russian Federation.
The letter received by Deputy Artur Gaiduk from the Defense Ministry
Artur Gaiduk
The ministry’s letter claims that, while the draft as such has been over since October 28, 2022, all “other mobilization activities” listed in the president’s decree are still taking place. The letter leaves those activities unspecified.
What ‘special military operation’?
Russia has banned all references to the Ukraine war as a “war” and an “invasion,” insisting that it should be called a “special military operation.”