Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to “improve the combat skills of reservists” and has signed a decree ordering them to participate in military training this year. Reservists aged up to 50 might receive summons, as well as non-commissioned officers aged up to 60, senior officers aged up to 65 and higher-ranking officers up to 70.
Such exercises take place every year in Russia, but since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, they have been lasting longer. Moreover, the maximum age for conscripts has increased, as has the fine for not participating in the exercises (to 30,000 rubles, which is the equivalent of ca. €300 euros or $312).
Users on Russian social networks have been discussing why the military exercises are being scheduled so early this year. Last year, Putin ordered them in March and in 2023 in May. They have also debated two secret provisions in the decree marked “For official use only.”
One user of the Russian social network ‘Vkontakte’ asked whether a “new mobilization” drive was likely. “Now, many people will leave the country again,” said another.
From a military exercise to the frontline?
According to Russian law, a person participating in a military exercise that lasts about two months should train how to use weapons and equipment. Before the war against Ukraine, such exercises had a formal character and very few people participated in them even though they were compulsory. The fine for not taking part was only 500 rubles and therefore many ignored the summons.
But Artyom Klyga, a lawyer for the Movement of Russian Conscientious Objectors, explained that since 2022 such exercises were now taking place year round.
“You can actually say that the military exercises ordered in May last year are still going on,” he told DW. This could be related to the “need for people,” he said, in view of the “increasing exhaustion of the Russian army.”
He said that military exercises were an additional means of recruiting soldiers to fight in Ukraine, as it was easier to “force someone to sign a contract through isolation, trickery or even threats.”
Klyga added that the exercises also served to promote soldiers to higher ranks and improve their specializations, allowing for more precise planning of mobilization. He said that Russians were being lured to the conscription offices to “compare data.” He said that reservists could be prosecuted if they showed up for an exercise but then simply left.
“People can leave the country without hesitation before a medical examination at the conscription office,” he said, explaining that there was no exit ban yet. However, he pointed out that this might come when the central digital recruitment register currently in the making was fully functional.
What do the secret provisions mean?
Yevgeny Stupin, a former member of the Moscow City Duma, said that the secret provisions in the decree were likely related to the number of conscripts and planned tasks in the region. He said this information could be used to identify the goals and objectives of the Russian defense ministry.
He warned against trusting the Russian authorities when they said that according to the law nobody can be sent on to war from a military exercise. He pointed out that according to the wording of the decree, reservists would be allowed to serve in the National Guard and the FSB, Russia’s domestic intelligence service.
“I would like to remind you that the National Guard is a law enforcement [agency] in the territories of Ukraine occupied by the Russian army”, he said. “FSB people guard the borders, and have often been involved in battles with the Ukrainian armed forces in the Kursk and Belgorod regions.”
Klyga also said that reservists could be sent to these regions to serve or train with the National Guard or the FSB.
“The law does not prohibit this,” he said. “There would be no legal hurdles. But we have not yet registered anything like this.”
A representative of Idite Lesom (Go by the forest), a Georgia-based organization that helps deserters from Russia, told DW that it had not heard of reservists being sent to war after military exercises but it warned people not to wait to find out.
“It is better to ignore any summons,” the organization advises.
Preparing for war against the West
The Russian authorities have insisted that they are not planning a new mobilization and say that the Russian army is being developed without coercion. Andrey Kartapolov, a member of the State Duma’s defense committee, told the Russian news agency TASS that around 1,000 men were voluntarily reporting to the conscription office each day and signing contracts. He added that every day the Russian army was “advancing on numerous fronts.”
The Russian military is indeed advancing in eastern Ukraine, but the intensity is decreasing, Ruslan Leviev, the founder of the independent investigative organization Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), told DW. He said that though the army was able to replenish its ranks with soldiers, it could not make up for the lack of officers.
Meanwhile, in Russia’s state Duma there are voices calling to prepare for war against the “collective West.”
Alexei Zhuravlyov, the deputy head of the parliamentary defense committee, told the Russian online site absatz.media that this would be the case if Western countries joined the war alongside Ukraine. He said that Russia should replenish its reserves.
Stupin told DW that the current exercises were not to be interpreted as a sign to the West.
He said that Putin was hoping for more rapid success on the frontline: “That is why he is speeding up the recruitment of regular soldiers, not letting those who are mobilized go, and also using reservists.”
This article was originally written in Russian.
