Video shows Russian pilot taken to military recruitment office right from plane
Airplane of the Azur Air company (Photo:Papas Dos via Wikipedia)
A Russian commercial airline co-pilot subject to mobilization was taken straight from the cockpit of his plane to the military enlistment office in the Russian city of Ufa, delaying a flight to Turkey by nine hours, Russian publication Mkset.ru reported on Oct. 14.
According to one of the passengers, the Azur Air flight to Antalya was supposed to depart at 5:20 a.m., but an announcement was made: "Due to mobilization and subsequent ban on border crossing for the co-pilot, the take-off is canceled. We ask you to leave the plane". As a result, the plane took off around 2:00 p.m.
The press service of Azur Air confirmed to Russian news outlet RBC media that such an incident had occurred, specifying that the co-pilot was indeed stopped by border guards.
The flight from Ufa to Antalya was operated by a reserve pilot instead. However, the pilot, who was served with the summons, returned to work a few days later, the source of RBC in Azur Air said.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said on Oct. 14 that the current "partial" mobilization in Russia would end in two weeks. He also admitted that those drafted into the Russian army less than a month ago are already at the front.
Putin announced a "partial mobilization" in Russia on Sept. 21. The call-up came after the Russian army suffered a heavy defeat in Ukraine, losing swathes of formerly occupied territory in Ukraine’s Kharkiv Oblast.
According to official data from the Russian Defense Ministry, the plan is to draft about 300,000 reservists. However, the part of the published decree ordering the mobilization dealing with the number of draftees is marked only “for official use.”
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu estimated the mobilization resource of Russia at almost 25 million people.
According to media reports, one million people are planned to be drafted in Russia.
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