In at Least a Fifth of Russia’s Federal Subjects, Forcible Mobilization for War in Ukraine Already Taking Place De Facto, Rights Activists Report

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 24 – While Kremlin spokesman continue to claim that suggestions Moscow will launch a mobilization campaign after the Duma elections are Ukrainian propaganda and that Russia doesn’t need any mobilization to man its arm, in at least a fifth of Russia’s federal subjects, a forcible mobilization is already taking place.

            For Kremlin claims that reports about mobilization are Ukrainian propaganda and that Russia doesn’t need any mobilization, see meduza.io/news/2026/08/25/kreml-nazval-informatsionnymi-utkami-soobscheniya-o-novoy-mobilizatsii-v-rossii and ura.news/articles/1053121221.

            For reports by rights activists that officials are using violence and threats to force men to sign up for the military and serve in Ukraine in 17 federal subjects, approximately one-fifth of all of these, actions that look very much like what a mobilization would, see the detailed article at verstka.media/pravozashhitniki-soobshhili-o-nasilstvennyh-zaderzhaniyah-i-prinuzhdenii-k-kontraktu-kak-minimum-v-17-regionah-rossii.

            What these reports almost certainly mean is that Putin plans to run a covert mobilization campaign, handing off the task to regional officials and paid recruiters and then denying that a mobilization effort is taking place and disclaiming any responsibility for what is happening, a pattern he has adopted with regard to other policies already.

            And that in turn means that Putin likely won’t declare a mobilization even after the election largely because he won’t have to: his appointees in the oblasts, krays, and republics of the Russian Federation are already carrying one out in all but name.