Moscow is shutting down mobilization stations on Monday, after completing its plan for enrolling military reservists, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has announced. He added that the draft notices already sent to people’s homes and workplaces are no longer considered valid.

“The mobilization has been a serious test to thousands of families in Moscow, whose fathers, husbands, and sons are on the way to the army now. Nevertheless, the targets for partial mobilization have been met thanks first and foremost to the responsibility, honor, and patriotism of Muscovites,” Sobyanin said on his official blog.

On behalf of the city council, he expressed his gratitude to the people of Moscow who are putting their lives on the line, and pledged full support for their families.

“We will hope and pray for you to come back alive and well. To come back with a victory. To defend the safety and independence of our nation,” he said.

Read more

NATO ‘de-facto involved’ in Ukraine conflict – Kremlin

President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of reservists last month, stating that extra manpower was necessary to sustain Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.

The Defense Ministry said it wanted all parts of Russia to contribute a total of 300,000 people to bolster the army.

Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”

In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.