Russia has now announced an end to the “partial mobilization” of its citizens to fight in the country’s war against Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Monday that all partial mobilization activities, including call deliveries, have been suspended.
The ministry added that “all activities related to conscription for military service” have been halted.
Military units will only accept volunteers and contractors from now on, the statement continued.
Commenting on behalf of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the ministry said commanders of the military regions and the Northern Fleet have been directed to submit reports on the completion of partial mobilization activities by November 1.
However, the ministry’s announcement is not an official end to the country’s partial mobilization. This can only be done by an official decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The “partial mobilization” of citizens to fight in the country’s war against Ukraine has been plagued by mistakes, sparked angry protests and prompted a mass exodus since it was announced in September.
Protests have broken out in ethnic minority areas and some military offices have been set on fire. The initial announcement also sparked rare anti-war protests across Russia.
The country has been forced to increase security measures at military registration and recruitment offices “due to increasing attacks” on those facilities, a senior Russian official said in an earlier CNN report.
Two gunmen said to be from former Soviet states opened fire on Russian soldiers on October 15 during training in the Belgorod region, killing 11 people, the state-run TASS news agency reported, citing the Russian Defense Ministry as a source.
Alexander Hinstein, a member of the Russian parliament, said on Telegram that “invaders” were also caught “red-handed” trying to launch an attack on military recruitment centers. A man opened fire in one such building late last month, seriously wounding a commander, state media reported.
At the start of the process, some residents in Russia’s Far Eastern Sakha Republic were “inadvertently” conscripted even though they were ineligible for mobilization, such as fathers of minor children, according to a local leader there.
Countless Russians have fled the country as a result of the partial mobilization. More than 200,000 people traveled from Russia to Georgia, Kazakhstan and the European Union in just the first week, according to collective data from those regions.
“I was angry and scared,” Vadim, who fled Russia for Kazakhstan with his grandmother after the announcement, told CNN this month. “We don’t want this war … we can’t change anything in our country, although we tried.”
The benefits of mobilization were also dubious. It is unclear whether the influx of newly trained recruits has had any impact on ground fighting in eastern and southern Ukraine, where Kyiv has made gains in recent weeks.
