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RUSSIA — Since Vladimir Putin announced the partial mobilization of 300,000 people to resume the invasion of Ukraine, which stalled on Wednesday, September 21, incidents at military recruitment centers across the country have multiplied. The influx of tens of thousands of military-age Russians fleeing to neighboring countries also reveals the limits of their president’s authority.
As you can see in our video at the top of the articlemany images circulating on social networks testify to the chaos caused by this call, a first in Russia since World War II.
On the border with Georgia, for example, video captured by a drone shows miles of cars in single file waiting to leave Russia. Arrivals of Russians in the Caucasus country have nearly doubled to nearly 10,000 a day after Vladimir Putin’s announcement, Georgia’s Interior Ministry said. At AFP, the Russians say they don’t want to get involved in a “fratricidal war.”
In addition to the numerous scuffles filmed during the mobilization actions, recruitment centers were also set on fire, such as that of Uryupinsk in the Volgograd region in the south-east of the country. Another center in Siberia’s Oust-Ilimsk was the target of an armed attack on Monday, in which a young Russian opened fire on an officer working there. Southeast of Moscow, in Ryazan, a man set himself on fire. According to independent media Novaya Gazeta, the victim was 90% burned and screamed that she did not want to “go to the front”. »
Russia admits “mistakes”.
These incidents are another example of the organizational difficulties related to the Russian offensive against Ukraine. On Saturday, the Defense Ministry announced that the senior officer in charge of logistics issues was replaced by General Mikhail Mizintsev, a staff heavyweight.
The Kremlin paid lip service to some “mistakes” in this mobilization, notably the enlistment of people who were ostensibly going to be released. Vladimir Putin had stressed that only people with military experience or “relevant” skills would be called up.
But multiple cases of people over fighting age, ill or otherwise exempt, have sparked outrage on social media and prompted embarrassment and concern from authorities.
Although the authorities present the mobilization of those allegedly freed as isolated cases, their statements express a form of concern given the outraged reaction of part of the population.
Regarding the influx to the borders, Russia’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday indicated that it would not ask foreign governments to extradite thousands of Russians who fled the country to avoid mobilization.
“The Russian Ministry of Defense has not sent, has not prepared and will not address any inquiries to the authorities of Kazakhstan, Georgia and other countries regarding the issue of an alleged forced return of Russian citizens to Russia within the framework of partial mobilization,” he said in an explanation.
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