Putin plans to mobilise several hundred thousand Russians by year-end and same number next year – Zelenskyy
According to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia is preparing a new wave of mobilisation for the autumn, immediately after holding its State Duma "elections".
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced this in a video address following a report by Defence Intelligence chief Oleh Ivashchenko, Censor.NET reports.
Intelligence findings
"There was a report from Defence Intelligence, from Oleh Ivashchenko, on preparations for Russian mobilisation. Everything is confirmed by internal Russian documents: they are preparing it for the autumn, immediately after the imitation of parliamentary elections," the head of state said.
Scale of mobilisation
According to Zelenskyy, "Putin’s plan is not particularly complicated: he wants to create the impression that Russians supposedly support the war, as all the parties admitted so far oppose peace in one way or another".
"Then, after the so-called elections, he plans to rapidly mobilise several hundred thousand more Russians by the end of the year, plus the same number next year. This is in addition to the contract-based recruitment targets they are attempting to meet," the president said.
Ukraine’s response
Zelenskyy added that Ukraine’s intelligence agencies and security services had already been assigned tasks aimed at making it as difficult as possible for the enemy to implement these plans.
"We are preparing our own active measures to make it as difficult as possible for Russia to implement such plans. I have assigned the relevant tasks to Ukraine’s intelligence agencies and special services," the president said.
