DISINFO: Partial mobilisation is meant to protect Russian sovereignty and people in liberated areas
SUMMARY
The aim of the partial mobilisation is to protect Russia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and to ensure the safety of Russians and people living in the liberated areas in the East of Ukraine.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets trying to justify Russia's unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.
In reality, the partial mobilisation which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on 21 September 2022 and the entire aggressive war against Ukraine which he unleashed on 24 February 2022 are aimed at grabbing considerable parts of Ukrainian territories rather than protecting Russia’s sovereignty or ensuring the safety of the Russian-speaking population in the East of Ukraine.
Unlike Russia’s understated estimates of its losses in this war at about 6,000 servicemen, the real number of those killed in action is much higher. Ukraine assesses Russia’s losses at more than 56,000. Independent data are somewhat lower, but they are in any case much higher than Russia’s. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has said 300,000 people will be called up in the partial mobilisation, which is 1 per cent of the overall number of Russians who could be called up for military service. Putin’s decree contains a secret paragraph on the number of conscripts, so there is no exact information about how many people are to be drafted and whether this mobilisation is really partial or total.
Moscow needs new conscripts in order to replenish its human resources and continue its unjustified aggression against Ukraine, not to protect its sovereignty and its security or liberate the people of Donbas from purported "Ukrainian Nazis". Ukraine has never threatened Russian sovereignty, nor has it suppressed the Russian-speaking population of its eastern regions.
Read more disinformation cases about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.