Zelenskyy adviser comments on Russia mobilization process

The New Voice of Ukraine
·2 min read
Mykhailo Podolyak
Mykhailo Podolyak

According to Podolyak, a “Russian-style” mobilization features the following: 

  • kilometer-long queues to exit Russia; 

  • people dragged from their homes; 

  • protests in national republics; 

  • a shooting in a military registration and enlistment office; 

  • thousands of complaints about illegal conscription, lack of equipment/training.

“It's only the fifth day,” he tweeted. “Thousands of coffins haven’t even begun to return yet.”

One of the incidents Podolyak referred to occurred on Sept. 26 in UstIlimsk, Irkutsk Region, when 25-year-old local resident, Ruslan Zinin, shot a military commissar during a meeting at a military registration and enlistment office.

Read also: Putin plans to mobilize a lot more than 300,000 troops, analyst says

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin early on Sept. 21 declared a partial mobilization in Russia and said he was ready to use nuclear weapons in the event of a “threat to the territorial integrity” of Russia.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, in a later address, announced that 300,000 reservists would be called up during the partial mobilization.

Kremlin puppet authorities in the Donbas announced on Sept. 20 that they would hold referendums on joining Russia. The occupation “administrations” stated that a sham plebiscite will be held Sept. 23-27. Russian occupation authorities in Kherson and Zaporizhzhya oblasts also announced plans to hold referendums on “uniting with Russia” on the same dates.

The statements were made shortly after a rapid counteroffensive by the defenders of Ukraine: On Sept. 14, the Ministry of Defense reported that since Sept. 6 (in the space of one week), the Armed Forces of Ukraine had liberated 388 settlements and about 8,500 square kilometers in Kharkiv Oblast alone.

Read also: Ukraine advances on Lyman while discontent with mobilization rises in Russia, says ISW

Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andrii Yermak said Russia's blackmail regarding the holding of sham referendums in the temporarily occupied territories was the product of “the fear of defeat.” Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kulebam stressed that these sham“votes” will not change anything, and Ukraine will continue to liberate its territories.

On Sept. 20, the Russian State Duma, the Kremlin’s rubber-stamp parliament, rushed through votes introducing the concepts of "mobilization", "martial law", and "armed conflict" into Russia’sCriminal Code. Now in Russia, desertion, absence from service and voluntary surrender will be punished more severely.

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