Russia’s President Vladimir Putin says that all “mobilization activities” will be completed within two weeks, as reported by RIA Novosti.
According to Putin, 222,000 conscripts have been drafted following his mobilization decree. 33,000 of them have been attached to military units, and 16,000 are currently engaged in combat.
The president also noted that there’s no need to expand the planned scope of mobilization “in the foreseeable future.”
Putin explained that mobilization is necessary because the Russian army’s contact line with Ukraine’s defenders is 1,100 kilometers (683.5 miles) long, and cannot be “secured by contract soldiers alone.”
Russia began a campaign of so-called “partial mobilization” on September 21. The Defense Ministry claimed that it planned to conscript 300,000 new troops.
By October 5, at least 213,000 had been drafted, according to an independent report by the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT). Since that data was based on just two-thirds of Russia’s regions, the total number of people drafted can be be much greater.
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