Relatives of the mobilized have sent a petition to Vladimir Putin demanding that he set terms for reservists in the combat zone in Ukraine, The Moscow Times Russian Service reported May 20, citing the Novaya Sibiriya newspaper.
Eight thousand people signed the appeal. These are family members of those mobilized from the Moscow, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, and Amur regions, Buryatia, Yakutia, and the Primorsky, Trans-Baikal, and Khabarovsk territories.
As noted in the petition, “employees of the Federal Guard Service, the Interior Ministry, and other security agencies” travel to the war zone for a specific period of time “as part of a working trip for three or six months”, while the mobilized men travel until the end of Putin’s declared war, although its terms are not defined in any way.
Relatives of the mobilized regard this as “absolutely unjust and in violation of the rights of citizens to work and to full recreation, guaranteed by the basic law of the country – the Constitution”. They insist on passing a law restricting the time reservists can spend at the front lines.
If this happens, Russia may need a second wave of mobilization. The mobilization announced by Putin lasted from September 21 to October 28, and the decree to end it has not yet been signed. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the drafting of 318,000 people, including 18,000 “volunteers”. After that, the minister said that the army would need another 350,000 people to form form formations in the annexed regions of Ukraine and “guarantee the fulfillment of tasks to ensure military security” of the country.
The Russian authorities have once again started talking about mobilization on the eve of Ukraine’s counterattack. Former head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and current State Duma deputy Aleksandr Boroday said that the reservists already drafted “may not be enough. Following him, his colleague Mikhail Sheremet announced the mobilization. Dmitry Rogozin, former head of Roskosmos, also pointed to the shortage of soldiers at the front and the need for a new draft.
