The partial military mobilization in Russia will end within the next two weeks, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Updated only now
Putin said on Friday that there are no further plans to mobilize new soldiers to contribute militarily to Ukraine.
At the same time, the Russian president offers a rare insight into why he started partial mobilization and admits that Russia is struggling to keep the front line.
– It is impossible to maintain the front line using only contracted officials, which is why we announced the mobilization, Putin said at a press conference in Astana in Kazakhstan, where a summit was held in recent days.
No regrets
It has been nearly eight months since Russian forces began their attempt to invade Ukraine. Since then, Ukraine has reacted to Russia, which in exchange has annexed several counties of the country.
Putin ordered on Monday air strikes against Ukraine, and several cities have been hit by missiles and drones. About 20 dead and 100 wounded.
When asked if he regrets anything, Putin simply replies “no”.
– What is happening today is unpleasant, but it is the right thing, he says.
In his speech, Putin also states that there is no longer a need for large-scale attacks on Ukraine, such as those carried out by Russia on Monday. The reason must be that they have already come up with most of the goals they had set.
– We do not have the goal of destroying Ukraine, of course not, says Putin.
Many would probably say that this is exactly what Russia has been experiencing over the past eight months, senior researcher Kristian Åtland of the Norwegian Defense Research Institute tells VG. He is an expert on Russian security policy.
– The attitude has been that if we can’t occupy, we will destroy as much as possible, says Åtland.
Russian forces largely hit civilian targets and civilian infrastructure, rather than military targets, as they were unable to take out military targets, Åtland says.
Researcher: It will calm the population
222,000 of the 300,000 that were the target have been mobilized, Putin says.
Putin also says that 16,000 mobilized soldiers are already carrying out military tasks in Ukraine.
– I interpret the statements mainly as an attempt to reassure the Russian population and prevent protests, says Åtland.
The mobilization made the war unpopular in Russia and forced the Russians to take a stand on the war in a way they didn’t have to before, Åtland says. This has led to protests, fleeing and attacks on the mobilization centers.
People feared that their fathers, sons and lovers would be sent to war. Before, the attitude was that as long as Putin leaves us alone, we leave Putin alone, Åtland explains. The Russians experience through mobilization that this unwritten social contract has been broken, according to the Russian expert.
– What it actually says is “relax, it’ll be over in two weeks”. If you or someone you know have not been called up, you will not be called up. This is what it is trying to report, Åtland says.
It will probably continue
In reality, the mobilization will probably continue for a long time.
Almost all Russian men up to the age of 65 are considered reservists. Initially, only those with service experience were to be mobilized, but there were hardly any criteria mentioned in the mobilization statement, according to the AP news agency.
Russian media also revealed attempts to mobilize men with no relevant combat experience, including people unable to serve for health reasons.
Åtland says that many of those who have been called up should never have been called up. The regions took care to fill the quotas of the mobilized reservists.
– So it was a bit of a struggle over who was mobilized, he says.
Many will be rejected or sent home at a later date and will be replaced by soldiers who will be mobilized at a later time, Åtland believes.
Mobilization to the graves
It was September 21st. Putin announced partial military mobilization in the country, which would add 300,000 new soldiers to Russian forces.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi later said that Russian rearmament was “mobilization to the graves”.
Putin’s mobilization did not go as the Russian president hoped.
In time later there were several acts of sabotage against conscripts across the country and tens of thousands of fighting-age men he left the countryt.
Åtland says Putin’s tone is softer in the new statements, but that there is a big gap between rhetoric and reality.
– Putin said, among other things, that there would be no more large-scale attacks like Monday. We’ll see, says Åtland.
– Lack of ammunition probably limits more than the willingness to attack. The will is probably still great, he says.
