It lasted from September 21 to October 28TASS-DOSSIER.
On October 28, 2022, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the established mobilization task of 300 thousand people had been successfully completed, no additional tasks were planned as part of partial mobilization.
TASS has prepared a material on how the mobilization took place.
Announcement of partial mobilization
On September 21, 2022, at 09:00 Moscow time, Putin made a televised address to the Russians, in which he announced that he had signed a decree on partial mobilization, which came into force on the same day. According to him, the involvement of military personnel was required due to the stretching of the front line during a special military operation in Ukraine, as well as constant shelling of Russian border territories and attacks on liberated regions: the DPR, the LPR, the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
In his address, the head of state drew attention to the inevitability of a special operation in Ukraine, in which Russia opposes "virtually the entire military machine of the collective West." According to him, the line of contact during the special operation at that time exceeded 1 thousand km, terrorist attacks with the use of Western weapons were inflicted on the border areas of Russian regions, and NATO forces carried out reconnaissance by various means throughout the south of Russia. The head of state also accused Ukraine and Western countries of nuclear blackmail.
Immediately after Putin's speech, Shoigu clarified that a total of 300 thousand reservists, or about 1% of the mobilization resource, which includes those who have already served in the army and received a military accounting specialty, will be called up. First of all, it was planned to call for those with combat experience. At the same time, according to the minister, it was supposed to use them primarily to control the already liberated territories. The Minister assured that students and conscripts will not be affected by the mobilization. Thus, Russia planned to mobilize about the same number of citizens as, according to Shoigu's estimates, Ukraine had already called into its army.
Who was exempted from partial mobilization
Initially, the presidential decree mentioned the right to a deferral from conscription for mobilization to citizens of the Russian Federation working in organizations of the military-industrial complex (MIC).
In the future, the Ministry of Defense repeatedly corrected the list of grounds that exempt Russians from conscription as part of partial mobilization. In addition to defense industry workers, they were also released from conscription:
- citizens deemed temporarily unfit for service for health reasons;
- those who are engaged in permanent care of a family member or disabled people of group I;
- having three or more dependent children under the age of 16 or having a dependent and raising one or more children under the age of 16 without a mother;
- employees of accredited organizations in the field of information technology, organizations ensuring the stability, safety and integrity of the functioning of individual communication facilities;
- employees of system-forming organizations in the field of information and communications, in the media, on broadcast channels and radio channels;
- working in organizations of the banking and financial sectors;
- military pensioners removed from military registration (regardless of affiliation to departments);
- Russians who permanently live outside the country and are not registered in the military (however, those who were on a short trip could be called up).
- citizens deemed temporarily unfit for service for health reasons;
- those who are engaged in permanent care of a family member or disabled people of group I;
- having three or more dependent children under the age of 16 or having a dependent and raising one or more children under the age of 16 without a mother;
- employees of accredited organizations in the field of information technology, organizations ensuring the stability, safety and integrity of the functioning of individual communication facilities;
- employees of system-forming organizations in the field of information and communications, in the media, on broadcast channels and radio channels;
- working in organizations of the banking and financial sectors;
- military pensioners removed from military registration (regardless of affiliation to departments);
- Russians who permanently live outside the country and are not registered in the military (however, those who were on a short trip could be called up).
On September 24, Putin signed a decree granting deferrals to full-time and part-time students of universities and colleges. Initially, the decree applied only to state educational organizations, then it was extended to commercial universities. By presidential decree of October 5, a postponement was granted to students who are studying full-time and part-time for the first time, graduate students and some other categories.
On September 27, the Ministry of Finance of Russia presented a document containing 195 specialties in IT and communications that fit the criteria for exemption from mobilization for the relevant employees. The list includes specialties in such areas as mathematics, nuclear physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, architecture, information security, laser technology, forensic examination, aircraft and helicopter construction, shipbuilding, personnel management, PR, geology, metallurgy. On the same day, an application form was opened on the public services portal for IT and communications specialists to receive a deferral from partial mobilization.
On October 1, Shoigu said that during the partial mobilization, women are not subject to conscription.
Benefits for the mobilized
Immediately after the announcement of mobilization, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation reported that the same status and monetary allowance apply to the mobilized as to contractors. The monetary allowance of a conscripted person depends on the rank and position, and also includes various allowances related to the conditions of service, and insurance payments. The money will be transferred to the personal account of the mobilized person, but at his request it can be fully or partially transferred to family members. A number of regions reported that they would provide additional one-time or monthly financial assistance.
On October 7, Putin signed a law on the labor rights of workers who were mobilized, entered service under a contract or joined the army as volunteers from September 21, 2022. According to the document, the validity of the mobilized person's employment contract is suspended for the period of his military service, his place of work and position are retained. The mobilized employee can return to his former official duties within three months after the end of military service. The President exempted the mobilized and their family members from paying penalties for incomplete or late payment of housing and communal services and approved credit holidays for consumer and mortgage loans and loans. The law establishes the procedure for granting borrowers a grace period.
On October 20, the President of the country signed a law on credit holidays for the mobilized, the right to transfer cases before being sent to the troops for business leaders, etc.
Mistakes during mobilization
The partial mobilization in September-October 2022 was the first event of this kind and scale in the USSR and in Russia since the Great Patriotic War, which led to a number of difficulties in its implementation. On September 26, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov admitted that "there are indeed cases when the decree [on partial mobilization] is violated," however, according to him, active work is being carried out in the Russian regions under the leadership of governors to correct the situation. On the same day, the Government of the Republic of Crimea reported that in the region about 400 people who were mistakenly called up for partial mobilization were returned home, and the authorities of Yakutia reported on the return of 120 people who did not meet the criteria for partial mobilization.
On September 29, Putin admitted that mistakes had been made during the mobilization measures, in particular, "for those citizens who, for example, are entitled to a postponement." The Head of State urged "to sort out each such case separately, and if a mistake is made, it needs to be corrected, those who were called up without proper justification should be returned home." The President also asked the Prosecutor's office to respond more actively to reports of violations.
On October 10, Putin, at a meeting with the heads of regions, called the problems in issues related to partial mobilization "nonsense," at the same time noting that this is "a good reason to deal with all these issues." Later, the head of state explained that the "stupidity" during mobilization is associated with old forms of accounting that have not been updated for decades, however, according to him, "the information base is now being updated on a modern basis, and it will be as reliable as possible."
On October 3, forms for filing complaints about violations during partial mobilization and for signing up as volunteers appeared on the public services portal.
On October 19, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin reported that more than 9,5 thousand fathers with many children (with three or more children) were recalled from military units, and decisions on their mobilization were canceled. In addition, the authorities of the Tver Region canceled more than 100 decisions on conscription as part of partial mobilization, about 200 people who were called up by mistake returned home in the Belgorod region, and about 150 people were mistakenly mobilized in the Smolensk region.
Progress and completion of partial mobilization
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the very next day after the announcement of partial mobilization, about 10 thousand Russians arrived at the military enlistment offices on their own, without waiting for the summons. On September 23, according to the statements of the regional authorities, the first detachments of conscripts were formed and sent for training as part of partial mobilization. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, quotas for the number of conscripts from the reserve for regions and organizations were not established, but each subject of the Federation was assigned a "separate task for the supply of mobilization resources" depending on the number of people on military registration.
On September 26, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said that answers to typical questions of Russians about partial mobilization were sent to all call centers of the country, and also posted on the Internet portal "We explain.RF". According to Chernyshenko, the government, together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and Roskomnadzor, also check social networks and the media for the spread of fakes about partial mobilization and give timely refutations. Regarding rumors about the possible closure of state borders due to partial mobilization, Peskov said that "at the moment no decisions have been made on this matter."
On October 14, Putin, answering journalists' questions, said that partial mobilization in Russia is almost over and will be completed in about two weeks. At that time, 222 thousand people had already been mobilized, of which 33 thousand were mobilized in the units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, including 16 thousand in units involved in combat missions. The President also described the process of training the mobilized, noting that the initial training takes from five to ten days and takes place in the so-called formations. After that, the mobilized persons enter for training in combat units, where they spend from five to fifteen days. This is followed by additional coordination in the troops.
On October 20, Putin personally inspected one of the training grounds in the Ryazan region, where the mobilized were trained.
On October 17, the authorities of Moscow and the Moscow Region announced the completion of partial mobilization in these subjects of the Federation. The last region to report on the completion of mobilization was St. Petersburg on October 28.
