Russia issues many tens of thousands of call-up papers, first mobilised start to arrive at bases - UK MoD

The initial tranches of men called up under russia’s partial mobilisation have started arriving at military bases. Many tens of thousands of call-up papers have already been issued - the Ministry of Defence of Great Britain states in a Twitter report.

The military believes that Moscow will face an administrative and logistical challenge to provide training for the troops.

Unlike most Western armies, the russian army provides initial training of low-level soldiers within their operational units rather than in educational institutions.

“Typically, one battalion within each russian brigade will remain in garrison if the other two deploy and can provide a cadre of instructors to train new recruits or augmentees. However, russia has deployed many of these third battalions to Ukraine,” – the military noted.

Many of the drafted troops will not have had any military experience. The lack of military trainers, and the haste with which russia has started the mobilisation, suggests that many of the drafted troops will deploy to the front line with minimal relevant preparation.

Putin announced the so-called partial mobilization on 21 September. Russians reacted by fleeing abroad on a massive scale. According to official statements, 300,000 people are to be drafted, however, according to journalists, they actually want to mobilise more than a million.