Purported leaked mobilization order calls for 200K new Russian conscripts. Government officials denounce it as ‘fake.’
A photo of a purported mobilization order signed by the Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has surfaced on Telegram.
The Ukrainian news agency UNIAN has published the photo on its Telegram channel with a headline: “Reindeer herder Shoigu ordered to mobilize 200,000 more stags by November 1, for the war against Ukraine.”
According to the Russian news channel SOTA, a number of Ukrainian outlets have reposted the putative “order.”
The Russian authorities insist that the order is just “fake news.” The regional government of Buryatia called the document a “fabrication.” Chelyabinsk military commissar Andrey Maksurov says that no such order exists. Defense Ministry spokesman Andrey Kartapolov also claims that the order is a fake and “has nothing to do with reality.”
In a comment for TASS, Kartapolov added that Russia has no need for additional mobilization, since the military is effectively meeting its needs by “actively recruiting contract soldiers.” The official also pointed out that the president’s order for “partial mobilization” is still in effect and, if needed, a new round of mobilization wouldn’t require any additional orders.
Last January, amidst assurances that mobilization in Russia was finished, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitted that some of the mobilization decree’s provisions were still in effect.
