Retired Russian General Says Covert Mobilization Is Under Way in the Country

Leonid Ivashov, a retired Russian colonel general, has stated that although Russia has not officially announced a new wave of mobilization, one is already taking place in secret. It is linked to the war against Ukraine, for which Russia continues to recruit soldiers. According to Ivashov, people are being rounded up and pressured into signing contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Targets for the regions

The general said the Kremlin has set specific targets for regional authorities on how many people must be brought into the army. He said he had tried to find out what was really going on and concluded that military enlistment offices and regional authorities receive orders specifying how many people must be recruited into the armed forces.

Two methods

Ivashov described two approaches. The first, in his words, involves seizing people in order to find those who have already served, and sending them to the front immediately through deception and manipulation. He called this "a manhunt".

The second method does not involve physical force but deceit. People are promised large sums of money and told they will serve in the rear. The general said this method is used on a mass scale. He added that some people are taken even in their house slippers, without proper clothing, with the aim of getting them to sign a contract with the Defense Ministry.

The propaganda version

Ivashov also noted that Kremlin propaganda later calls people forced to sign military service contracts in this way "volunteers". In his view, such cases are used to create the impression that Russians themselves want to take part in the war against Ukraine.

The source contains no official comment from Russian authorities on the general's claims.