Russia is conducting large-scale military exercises in various regions to test the army’s ability to receive, accommodate, feed and arm a large influx of new conscripts, reports The Wall Street Journal. According to intelligence reports, such exercises are taking place across the country, although the Kremlin has not yet decided on a new wave of mobilisation.
Briefly about the main points
- Russia is reviewing the procedures for recruiting large numbers of new conscripts.
- The training programmes cover various regions of Russia.
- In Kaliningrad, procedures were practised in preparation for mobilisation.
- Regular conscription and reservist drills do not constitute a new mobilisation.
- The Kremlin has not decided on a new wave of mobilisation.
Review of logistical and mobilisation mechanisms
The exercises are intended to assess not only the army’s ability to recruit new personnel, but also the functioning of the system for their deployment, food supply and the distribution of weapons. Such a test may serve as preparation for various deployment scenarios, but does not in itself signify the start of mobilisation.
In Russia, several different mechanisms for manning the armed forces operate in parallel: regular conscription, contract recruitment, reservist call-ups and mobilisation from the reserve. The decree on the conscription of 261,000 men in 2026 and the decision on the mobilisation of reservists are separate legal procedures.
The Kaliningrad episode
Last month, officers from St Petersburg arrived in the Kaliningrad region, where they practised plans and procedures in the event of mobilisation being declared in the region. This incident is one example of the training exercises reported by intelligence sources.
The previous open wave of «partial mobilisation» in the Russian Federation began in September 2022, when the Russian authorities announced the recruitment of 300,000 people. No new large-scale mobilisation has been officially announced since then.
