Steph Deschamps / September 26, 2022
The Russian authorities have promised to repair the "mistakes" made in the mobilization decreed by President Vladimir Putin, after the summons of people who were supposed to be exempted that caused an outcry.
Announcing on Wednesday this "partial" mobilization of reservists to go to Ukraine, Mr. Putin had stressed that only people with military experience or "relevant" skills would be called.
But several cases of people over the age of fighting, sick or exempted for other reasons, have caused indignant reactions on social networks, causing embarrassment and concern to the authorities.
In the Volgograd region (south-west), a 63-year-old retired soldier, suffering from severe diabetes and brain problems, was sent home from the training center where he had been summoned, according to the authorities.
In the same region, the principal of a small rural school, Alexander Faltin, 58, received a mobilization order even though he had not served in the army. After a video of his daughter was posted on social networks, where it was widely shared, he was able to return home.
In an unusual admission of dysfunction, the speaker of the upper house of parliament, Valentina Matvienko, curtly reprimanded the regional authorities, who oversee the mobilization.
"Improper cases of mobilization [...] are causing heated discussions in society and on social networks," she lamented in a statement posted on Telegram.
"Some apparently consider it more important to report quickly than to properly fulfill an important mission for the state. Such excesses are absolutely unacceptable," she added.
"Make sure that the partial mobilization is completed in full compliance with the announced criteria. And without making a single mistake!" she ordered.
These abuses are a new example of the organizational difficulties that have accompanied Russia's offensive against Ukraine since the beginning. On Saturday, the Ministry of Defense announced the replacement of the highest-ranking officer in charge of logistics by General Mikhail Mizintsev, a heavyweight in the general staff.
Even though the authorities present the mobilization of people who were supposed to be exempted as isolated cases, their statements express a form of concern about the indignant reaction of part of the population.
On Saturday, the chairman of the Kremlin's Human Rights Council, Valery Fadeyev, urged Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to "urgently solve the problems" that have arisen since the beginning of the mobilization so as not to "undermine the confidence of the population.