Kremlin says Russian reaction to mobilization ‘hysterical’

Moscow, Sep 23 (EFE).- The Kremlin said on Friday that Russians’ reaction to the partial mobilization announced by president Vladimir Putin earlier this week was “hysterical”.

“One could somehow understand such a hysterical reaction in the first hours after the announcement,” the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in his daily press conference.

“But, on the other hand, all information lines were activated by the Cabinet of Ministers yesterday and the Ministry of Defense regularly answers all questions.

“There is currently no shortage of explanations. You just need to approach it soberly and thoughtfully,” he added.

Peskov’s comments come after thousands of Russians scrambled to leave the country shortly after Putin announced a partial mobilization of the military on Wednesday, calling up some 300,000 military reservists.

Footage showed long queues at border points with Kazakhstan, Georgia, Finland and Mongolia and flights out of Russia quickly sold out shortly after the announcement.

According to human rights lawyers, thousands of Russian reservists were called to join the army as part of the partial mobilization, but also people who never served in the army and students had been notified.

Peskov denied the reports and said some 10,000 men had voluntarily enlisted following Putin’s announcement.

The Kremlin spokesman continued to say that marksmen, tankers, gunners, drivers and mechanics, as well as other specialists, would be called first and that the 120,000 conscripts who will be called up for compulsory military service in the fall will not take part in the “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Employees of military industry companies, parents of large families, healthcare workers and students will not be mobilized, he added.

The decision of a partial mobilization could lead to an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.

Russia has not formally declared war on Ukraine, calling the February 24 invasion a “special military operation” now completing seven months.EFE

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