The Russian Defense Ministry announced this weekend the end of the “partial mobilization” that Putin had announced in mid-September. But Russian legal activists and media noted that only Putin had the power to end the mobilization, prompting him on Monday to claim that he had “not thought of that” and would “talk to lawyers”. On Tuesday, the Kremlin announced that Putin would not sign any orders. “We inform you: the decree is not needed, we have the conclusion of the state legal department of the presidential administration on this,” said Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman. At the same time, he argued, Russia’s partial mobilization “is complete.” The Kremlin is walking a fine line, both managing public reaction to its mass mobilization while maintaining maximum leverage over Russians who have already been drafted and those who might mobilize in the future. Moscow’s decision appears to achieve two goals: first, it means Russians who have been mobilized will remain in service until the Kremlin ends the invasion of Ukraine or a separate decision is made to “demobilize” them. And second, if the Kremlin decides to mobilize more Russians, it will not require a new presidential order to do so. “The end of the mobilization will free the authorities from the possibility of starting further mobilization if necessary without a new order,” wrote Pavel Chikov, a human rights lawyer and president of the International Human Rights Group Agora. “The end of the mobilization will automatically give everything away [mobilised] contract holders the right to waive military service.” Meanwhile, Russian lawmakers have proposed tough five-year prison sentences for deserting soldiers and Russian military offices have said they will have access to more public data. The Levada Center, an independent pollster, said the “decline in morale” among Russians following the announcement of the mobilization in September was unprecedented. “There was not once such a sharp deterioration in mood throughout the observations,” it said in a report last week. The pollster said the mood was the worst in Russia since 2000, a volatile period in which Russia was still recovering from an economic crisis, Putin had taken power after Boris Yeltsin suddenly announced his resignation and military operations had restart in Chechnya. In a report on Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said 87,000 of the 300,000 mobilized Russians have been sent to the conflict zone. Many have complained that they were sent there without formal training, with broken equipment, a lack of weapons and unclear orders. Some of them and their families have appealed to the Kremlin, complaining of corruption and negligence. “An order to end the partial mobilization would reassure the public, but it is unlikely that the authorities have any plans to do so,” Chikoff said. Russia is counting on tens of thousands of troops to help stabilize its fronts and unleash its professional troops to stop the Ukrainian counteroffensive. While the defense ministry claimed it would call up 300,000 Russians, press reports said the number, which was classified, could be as high as one million. Other senior lawmakers said further drafts in Russia could not be ruled out. “I think everything will depend on the military-political situation in the future,” said Viktor Sobolev, a member of the Duma’s defense committee. “If, as now, the battle is fought only on Ukrainian territory, I think the mobilization that took place will be enough. But the aggression of the West against Russia is increasing, then without a doubt, a [new] mobilization will be needed. But if the situation develops negatively, we will probably need not just a partial, but a full mobilization.” He added: “And then, of course, we’ll need a new order.” Russia has repeatedly blamed its failed military campaign in Ukraine on Western interference, including the British navy. On Tuesday, the Kremlin repeated the accusation that the UK was behind the explosion that destroyed the Nord Stream pipelines, which carry gas from Russia to Europe, in September. Peskov said Russia was considering what “further steps” to take in relation to its claim. “Such actions cannot be brushed aside. Of course, we will think about further steps,” he said. Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense had claimed that the British navy was involved in “planning, predicting and carrying out a terrorist attack in the Baltic Sea”. Without providing evidence, Russia also accused the UK of aiding Ukraine in its raid on the Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol this weekend.
