Russia Plans 'Partial Mobilization' of Military Reservists

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said on Wednesday, September 21, that reserve forces mobilized to fight in the war in Ukraine would be include reservists with combat experience and not students or conscripts, Russian media reported.

Earlier on Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin announced the partial mobilization of Russian military reserve forces, effective from September 21.

The military’s Zvezda News reported Shoygu as saying that people serving their conscription period and students would not be sent to the “special military operation,” the Kremlin’s term for its war in Ukraine.

Shoygu said around 300,000 reservists could be mobilized under the decree, which was published on the Kremlin website on Wednesday. Only those with combat experience would be sent to operational zone, he said.

The decree as published includes “military personnel serving in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation under a contract,” according to a machine translation. It also suggests the contacts will be extended indefinitely, saying they “continue to be valid until the end of the period of partial mobilization” unless a soldier is dismissed from service.

The video published on Zvezda’s Telegram channel shows an interview with Shoygu. Credit: Zvezda News via Storyful