From soviet times Russia has a good mobilization system. Every town district has its own mobilization office (for example, Moscow with 27 districts has 27 of them). Usually, they have 1-2 officers and 4-5 civilians working there. They are divided into officers and low ranks departments.
Each Russian citizen (all men and all women with military education) should make registration in the local mobilization office and inform it when they move somewhere, change official jobs and etc. Also, you need to register in the mobilization office to take a pension if you spend in Army 20+ years.
Surely, many people after they spend a year in the army, or 3 years in military additional courses in university, or retired from the army forget about mobilization offices, but they get all documents about each person from the Ministry of Defense (After you finish your service in education they inform your local mobilization office because each Russian citizen has an official place of residence).
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All information about people is systemized
Each district office knows military occupation and personal experience, they have documents about the person. So, it is very easy to mobilize the people they need.
In Russia, many officers serve for 20 or 25 years and take a good military pension, it’s twice bigger than as a moderate civilian (also they must buy you a house or apartment). In these 20-25 years are included 5 years in military high school! Also, if you take part in active military companies or services in the High North, they count your 1 year of service as 2 or even 3. So, you CAN finish your service in 38-43 years, or even in 35, or even earlier if you are a special force officer who served in Syria or Northern territories (If you`ll try to become a general you can serve up to 60 years (senior officers major, -colonel-lieutenant and colonel).
Surely usually such people are officers or warrant officers. Many of them after retirement work in different security services (banks, markets, and so on). Also, it’s important to know – all guys who retired from the Army have big files about their career in mobilization offices, they are in contact with them because of pension and so far!!!
So when you start mobilization you can easily find in your district all officers and warrant officers and some sergeants of military specialties you need. Surely, usually, they are after 40 y.o! So mostly all this part of mobilized people is 35+. They are very patriotic, some of them were born in USSR and they are motivated to fight. Also, nowadays civilian salaries usually are less, than the money they will be paid when they are back in Army!
All people who were conscripted in the Russian army as privates (in 18) spend their 2 or (after 2008) 1 year. All of them studied for at least 3 months to take military specialization. Many of them after 1 or 2 years of compulsory service stayed in Army for 2-3 years to get some money and benefits for education. All of them are in contact with military offices and they are mobilized now too!
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Understanding the Russian mobilization better
So, for lower ranks, the best variants for Russian mobilization are people of 25-30 (they don’t forget what they studied in the Army) who spend the Army a year or more. Russian army pays very good salaries for mobilized privates, corporals and sergeants also these people don’t sign a contract for 1-2-3 years. Also, the Russian army takes a lot of older people because they are much more disciplined and motivated, served in the army for 2 years (so served before 2008 and are at least 32 now).
Also, it is important to know that Mobilization orders can be handed over only in the official residence or working place of the person. They can’t stop people in the street (like in Ukraine), it’s not the total mobilization in Russia! Older people usually have official jobs, have families and are to buy apartments so it’s easier to mobilize them.
Also, mobilization office chiefs have a plan of mobilization and they should take the exact number of people they were ordered (different for each district). So, they will start to mobilize people they can find. Because of that real age of mobilized of lower rank is about 30. And it’s at least 15% of people who are older than 40. Many of them came themselves!
What is important to emphasize is that 60-70% of mobilized people will never reach the front zone. And they understand it. They will be sent in new reserve regiments that will change regular troops somewhere on the Estonian or Chinese border, and regular troops from this place will be sent to the frontline. Though if we’ll get a second wave of mobilization they will be already more or less retrained and can be sent to the frontline too. Other 40-30% are more or fewer professionals. Some of them will be replenishment of the acting army, and some of them will be formed in new regiments.
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As for thousands of people who are running from Russia now: all people who were against war and against Putin ran away in February or March. Nowadays runners are people who are panicking. Many of them don’t have enough money to leave abroad for a long period. Some of them are lost to Russia, some will come back soon!
It was a great victory for Russian strategists because people run away, which means they wouldn’t protest, they wouldn’t make any acts of sabotage. The departure of these people enabled a strong weakening of the power of Western intelligence services in Russia.
The writer is a history graduate from the University of Montenegro. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.