×
Enjoying ad-free content?
Since July 1, 2024, we have disabled all ads to improve your reading experience.
This commitment costs us $10,000 a month. Your support can help us fill the gap.
Support us
Our journalism is banned in Russia. We need your help to keep providing you with the truth.

Moscow Mayor Announces End of Mobilization in the Capital

Temporary mobilization point at VDNKh in Moscow. Sergei Kiselev / Moskva News Agency

Army draft offices will close in Moscow from Monday as the Kremlin's quotas for recruiting reservists to fight in Ukraine have been met in the capital, city mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced. 

"Assembly points for mobilized people will close on October 17, 2022, at 2:00 pm," Sobyanin said on his website. 

He said "the task of partial mobilization" ­– announced just over a month ago – had been "completed in full" in the city.

Sobyanin said that call-up papers sent out in Moscow were no longer valid. He did not say how many Muscovites had been called up. 

The mayor's announcement came three days after President Vladimir Putin promised to complete his mobilization drive "within two weeks."

The Russian leader said 222,000 people out of a target of 300,000 had already been mobilized. 

Announced on Sept. 21, Putin's call-up drive led to a huge exodus of Russians to neighboring countries.

Moscow, which traditionally produces far fewer soldiers than Russia's poorer and remote regions, is the first to end the unpopular mobilization. 

Sobyanin said the drive had been a "huge test for thousands of Moscow families" and thanked Muscovites for their "sense of duty and patriotism."

He wished mobilized Muscovites well on the battlefield and said he hoped they would return to the capital alive.

"We are all worried about your fate, the difficulties and the dangers that lie ahead of you and those that you are already facing," he said.

"We hope and pray that you return alive and healthy [and] that you return victorious having defended the security and independence of our country."

Sobyanin promised the authorities would "take care" of the families of those called up.

He also vowed to "improve life in military units," after reports of dire conditions in Russian army training camps sparked widespread discontent. 

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more