On September 21, 2022, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin signed a decree "On the announcement of partial mobilization in the Russian Federation".
(c) Press Service of the President of the Russian FederationText of the Decree;
In accordance with Federal Laws No. 61-FZ "On Defense" dated May 31, 1996, No. 31-FZ "On Mobilization Training and Mobilization in the Russian Federation" dated February 26, 1997, and No. 53-FZ "On Military Duty and Military Service" dated March 28, 1998, I decree:
1. Declare partial mobilization in the Russian Federation from September 21, 2022.
2. To carry out the conscription of citizens of the Russian Federation for military service on mobilization in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Citizens of the Russian Federation called up for military service on mobilization have the status of military personnel undergoing military service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation under a contract.
3. To establish that the level of monetary maintenance of citizens of the Russian Federation called up for military service upon mobilization into the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation corresponds to the level of monetary maintenance of military personnel undergoing military service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation under a contract.
4. Contracts on military service concluded by military personnel shall continue to be valid until the end of the period of partial mobilization, with the exception of cases of dismissal of military personnel from military service on the grounds established by this Decree.
5. To establish, during the period of partial mobilization, the following grounds for dismissal from military service of servicemen undergoing military service under contract, as well as citizens of the Russian Federation called up for military service upon mobilization into the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation:
a) by age - upon reaching the age limit for military service;
b) for health reasons - in connection with their recognition by the military medical commission as unfit for military service, with the exception of military personnel who have expressed a desire to continue military service in military positions that can be replaced by said military personnel;
c) in connection with the entry into legal force of a court verdict on the imposition of a custodial sentence.
6. To the Government of the Russian Federation:
a) to finance partial mobilization activities;
b) take the necessary measures to meet the needs of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, other troops, military formations and bodies during the period of partial mobilization.
7. [For official use]
8. The highest officials of the subjects of the Russian Federation shall ensure the conscription of citizens for military service upon mobilization into the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the amount and within the time limits determined by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for each subject of the Russian Federation.
9. Grant citizens of the Russian Federation working in organizations of the military-industrial complex the right to a deferral from conscription for military service on mobilization (for the period of work in these organizations). The categories of citizens of the Russian Federation who are granted the right to a deferral and the procedure for granting it are determined by the Government of the Russian Federation.
10. This Decree comes into force from the date of its official publication.
Also on September 21, 2022, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin made an address in which he stated:
Dear friends!
The topic of my speech is the situation in Donbas and the course of a special military operation to liberate it from the neo-Nazi regime that seized power in Ukraine in 2014 as a result of an armed coup.
I am addressing you today, to all citizens of our country, to people of different generations, ages and nationalities, to the people of our great Motherland, to all who are united by a great historical Russia, to soldiers and officers, volunteers who are now fighting on the front line, are at a combat post, to our brothers and sisters - residents Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, and other areas liberated from the neo-Nazi regime.
We will talk about the necessary, urgent steps to protect the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Russia, about supporting the aspirations and will of our compatriots to determine their own future, and about the aggressive policy of some Western elites who are striving with all their might to maintain their dominance, and for this they are trying to block, suppress any sovereign independent development centers, so that further it is rude to impose your will on other countries and peoples, to impose your pseudo-values.
The goal of this West is to weaken, divide and ultimately destroy our country. They are already directly saying that in 1991 they were able to split the Soviet Union, and now it's time for Russia itself that it should break up into many deadly warring regions and regions.
And they have been hatching such plans for a long time. They encouraged gangs of international terrorists in the Caucasus, promoted the offensive infrastructure of NATO close to our borders. They have made total Russophobia their weapon, including for decades purposefully nurtured hatred of Russia, primarily in Ukraine, which they were preparing for the fate of an anti-Russian springboard, and the Ukrainian people themselves turned into cannon fodder and pushed to war with our country, unleashing it, this war, back in 2014, using the armed forces against by organizing genocide, blockade, terror against people who refused to recognize the power that arose in Ukraine as a result of the coup.
And after the current Kiev regime actually publicly refused a peaceful solution to the Donbass problem and, moreover, declared its claims to nuclear weapons, it became absolutely clear that a new, another, as it has been twice before, large-scale offensive on Donbass is inevitable. And then, just as inevitably, an attack on the Russian Crimea would follow - on Russia.
In this regard, the decision on a pre-emptive military operation was absolutely necessary and the only possible one. Its main goals - the liberation of the entire territory of Donbass - have been and remain unchanged.
The Luhansk People's Republic has already been almost completely cleared of neo-Nazis. The fighting in the Donetsk People's Republic continues. Here, for eight years, the Kiev occupation regime has created a deeply echeloned line of long-term fortifications. Their assault head-on would have resulted in heavy losses, so our units, as well as military units of the republics of Donbass, act systematically, competently, use equipment, take care of personnel and step by step liberate Donetsk land, clear cities and towns of neo-Nazis, provide assistance to people whom the Kiev regime has turned into hostages, into a human shield.
As you know, professional military personnel serving under contract take part in a special military operation. Volunteer formations are also fighting shoulder to shoulder with them: people of different nationalities, professions, ages are real patriots. They stood up for Russia and Donbass at the call of their hearts.
In this regard, I have already given instructions to the Government and the Ministry of Defense in full and in the shortest possible time to determine the legal status of volunteers, as well as fighters of units of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. It should be the same as that of regular servicemen of the Russian army, including material, medical support, social guarantees. Special attention should be paid to the organization of the supply of volunteer formations and detachments of the People's militia of Donbass with equipment and equipment.
In the course of solving the main tasks of protecting Donbass, our troops, based on the plans and decisions of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff on the general strategy of action, liberated from neo-Nazis and significant territories of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, a number of other areas. As a result, an extended line of combat contact was formed, which is over a thousand kilometers.
What do I want to say publicly for the first time today? After the start of the special military operation, including the negotiations in Istanbul, Kiev's representatives reacted very positively to our proposals, and these proposals primarily concerned ensuring Russia's security and our interests. But it is obvious that a peaceful solution did not suit the West, so after reaching certain compromises, Kiev was actually given a direct instruction to disrupt all agreements.
Ukraine began to pump up weapons even more. The Kiev regime has launched new gangs of foreign mercenaries and nationalists, military units trained according to NATO standards and under the actual command of Western advisers.
At the same time, the regime of repression throughout Ukraine against its own citizens, established immediately after the armed coup of 2014, was strengthened in the most severe way. The policy of intimidation, terror, violence is taking more and more massive, terrible, barbaric forms.
I want to emphasize that we know that the majority of people living in the territories liberated from neo-Nazis, and these are primarily the historical lands of Novorossiya, do not want to be under the yoke of the neo-Nazi regime. In Zaporozhye, in the Kherson region, in Lugansk and Donetsk, they have seen and are seeing the atrocities committed by neo-Nazis in the occupied areas of the Kharkiv region. The heirs of Bandera and Nazi punishers kill people, torture, throw them into prison, settle scores, crack down, abuse civilians.
More than seven and a half million people lived in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions before the outbreak of hostilities. Many of them were forced to become refugees, to leave their homes. And those who remained - about five million people - are now subjected to constant artillery and rocket attacks by neo-Nazi militants. They hit hospitals and schools, organize terrorist acts against civilians.
We cannot, we have no moral right to give people close to us to the torturers, we cannot but respond to their sincere desire to determine their own fate. The parliaments of the People's Republics of Donbass, as well as the civil-military administrations of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions decided to hold referendums on the future of these territories and appealed to us, to Russia, with a request to support such a step.
I would like to emphasize that we will do everything to ensure safe conditions for holding referendums so that people can express their will. And we will support the decision about their future, which will be made by the majority of residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
Dear friends!
Today, our Armed Forces, as I have already said, operate on the line of combat contact, which exceeds a thousand kilometers, and resist not only neo-Nazi formations, but in fact the entire military machine of the collective West.
In this situation, I consider it necessary to take the following decision - it is fully adequate to the threats we face, namely: to protect our Homeland, its sovereignty and territorial integrity, to ensure the safety of our people and people in the liberated territories, I consider it necessary to support the proposal of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff to hold in the Russian Federation partial mobilization.
I repeat, we are talking about partial mobilization, that is, only citizens who are currently in reserve, and above all those who have served in the ranks of the Armed Forces, have certain military accounting specialties and relevant experience, will be subject to conscription for military service.
Those called up for military service before being sent to units will necessarily undergo additional military training, taking into account the experience of a special military operation.
The decree on partial mobilization has been signed.
In accordance with the legislation, the chambers of the Federal Assembly - the Federation Council and the State Duma - will be officially informed about this by letters today.
Mobilization activities will begin today, from September 21. I instruct the heads of the regions to provide all necessary assistance to the work of military commissariats.
I would like to emphasize that Russian citizens called up for military service on mobilization will receive the status, payments and all social guarantees of military personnel undergoing military service under a contract.
I will add that the Decree on partial mobilization also provides for additional measures to fulfill the state defense order. The heads of the defense industry enterprises are directly responsible for solving the tasks of increasing the production of weapons and military equipment, and deploying additional production capacities. In turn, all issues of material, resource and financial support for defense enterprises should be resolved by the Government immediately.
Dear friends!
In its aggressive anti-Russian policy, the West has crossed every line. We constantly hear threats against our country, our people. Some irresponsible politicians in the West are not only talking about plans to organize the supply of long-range offensive weapons to Ukraine - systems that will allow strikes on Crimea and other regions of Russia.
Such terrorist strikes, including with the use of Western weapons, are already being carried out on the border settlements of the Belgorod and Kursk regions. In real time, using modern systems, aircraft, ships, satellites, strategic drones, NATO carries out reconnaissance throughout the south of Russia.
Washington, London, Brussels are directly pushing Kiev to transfer military operations to our territory. Without hiding, they say that Russia should be defeated by all means on the battlefield, followed by the deprivation of political, economic, cultural, in general, of any sovereignty, with the complete plundering of our country.
Nuclear blackmail was also used. We are talking not only about the shelling of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant encouraged by the West, which threatens an atomic catastrophe, but also about the statements of some high-ranking representatives of the leading NATO states about the possibility and permissibility of using weapons of mass destruction against Russia - nuclear weapons.
To those who make such statements about Russia, I want to remind you that our country also has various means of destruction, and in some components - and more modern than those of NATO countries. And when the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people. This is not a bluff.
The citizens of Russia can be sure that the territorial integrity of our Motherland, our independence and freedom will be ensured, I emphasize this once again, by all means available to us. And those who are trying to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the wind rose can turn in their direction.
It is in our historical tradition, in the fate of our people, to stop those who are striving for world domination, who threaten the dismemberment and enslavement of our Motherland, our Fatherland. We will do it now, and it will be so.
I believe in your support.
