A member of Russia's State Duma Security Committee has suggested that his country can't defeat Ukraine in the ongoing war unless Russian President Vladimir Putin announces a "general mobilization."
"There must be a general mobilization. We must fight 'with the whole world,' as they say, and everyone must feel their belonging together with the country," Mikhail Sheremet, a lawmaker in Russia's lower-house State Duma and a member of the ruling United Russia party, was cited by independent news outlet The Moscow Times as saying Monday.
"At the moment [mobilization] is quite possible," Sheremet said.
Newsweek has contacted Russia's foreign ministry by email for comment.
Putin has so far declined to declare a full mobilization, which would put the nation on a war footing. However, he announced a partial mobilization in September 2022, saying that Russia would be targeting 300,000 reservists and ex-military personnel with "certain military specialties and relevant experience."
The Russian leader claimed in October that this recruitment drive had been completed, but since then, military observers have assessed that Russian troops fighting in Ukraine are being boosted by a covert draft, because Putin fears the backlash that a widespread mobilization might cause.
Sheremet made similar remarks on mobilization in September, 2022, a week before Putin announced a partial mobilization.
"Without full mobilization, transfer to a military footing, including the economy, we will not achieve the proper results," he said during an interview with URA.RU, according to a report by the publication News 24 All Daily.
Although the Kremlin has brushed off rumors that Putin may announce another wave of mobilization in the ongoing conflict, the British defense ministry assessed in April that Russian media reporting suggests authorities are preparing to start a "major military recruitment campaign" with the aim of signing up an additional 400,000 troops.
The ministry said in an assessment of the conflict in Ukraine that Russia is presenting its latest recruitment campaign as a drive for volunteer, professional personnel, rather than a new, mandatory mobilization.
Russia will likely struggle to attract 400,000 "genuine volunteers," it said.
Sheremet's latest call for a general mobilization comes ahead of an anticipated counteroffensive from Ukraine that is expected to target Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that was illegally annexed by Putin in 2014.
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Uncommon Knowledge
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About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
