Kremlin may send reservists to war in Ukraine without formal mobilization — ISW

The analysts highlighted that on Oct. 13 a Russian government commission approved [for further consideration — ed.] a draft bill proposed by the Russian Defense Ministry. It envisages that soldiers from Russia’s mobilization reserve will be able to carry out “defensive tasks” in armed conflicts, counterterrorism operations, or be deployed beyond Russia’s borders.

The bill proposes that the president of Russia [the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin] could call up reservists for “special military gatherings” lasting up to two months. The explanatory note states that these changes will allow Russia to deploy reservists “in peacetime.” This will expand current legislation, which allows Russia to deploy reservists only during mobilization or wartime, ISW noted.

Andrey Kartapolov, head of the State Duma Defense Committee, said on Oct. 13 that, if adopted, the bill will allow the Kremlin to deploy reservists outside Russia’s territory, including into Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts of Ukraine. ISW added that it will publish further analysis and a warning about the significance of this draft bill in the coming days.

On Oct. 13, Russian media reported details of the draft bill discussed by the Institute for the Study of War. Its authors proposed amendments to the Russian Law On Defense and a number of other laws to establish that “for the performance of certain tasks in the field of defense” (including in the event of armed conflicts, in counterterrorism operations, and when using the Armed Forces outside Russia) Russians from the mobilization reserve of the Armed Forces may be called up.

Under current Russian legislation, reservists may be summoned for “training gatherings” only once a year. Now it is proposed to add a new concept — “special gatherings” — to the bill.

The decision to call reservists up will be made by Russian dictator. And whereas at present reservists can be involved in tasks only during mobilization or wartime, the draft law proposes to extend that possibility to formally “peacetime.”

Russia does not recognize that it is waging a war against Ukraine, calling it a “special military operation.”