Rumors of another wave of mobilization in Russia continue. Moreover, the Kremlin continues its covert mobilization efforts.
How the Institute for the Study of Wars (ISW) reported, the Russian Ministry of Defense has submitted to the State Duma a draft amendment to Russian ordinance charges. This would allow Russian correctional institutions, penitentiary centers, and military registration and recruitment offices to register prisoners for military service without requiring them to appear in person at registration and recruitment offices. Artem Lysohor, the head of Ukraine’s Luhansk oblast, reported that banks in his oblast are providing their customers’ personal information to authorities in preparation for a new wave of mobilization. The Russian opposition newspaper Mobilization News reported that citizens of St. Petersburg have received letters from the military registration and recruitment offices. These claim that the Russian government may extend conscription.
State Duma: conscription will not be extended
However, Yuri Zvytkin, the deputy chairman of the Defense Committee, stressed that the State Duma was not considering extending conscription for the coming year. An unnamed source close to the Russian presidential administration claimed that the Russian government intended to conduct a second wave of mobilization after the regional elections on September 10, Mozhem Obyasnit newspaper reported. Russian authorities may be preparing to step up covert mobilization efforts after the regional elections, but they are unlikely to officially announce a second wave of mobilization.
Image: Kremlin.ru, Putin at military exercises (2022) 02., CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, (no changes made).