Russia's military mobilization in 2022 unprecedented since WWII, says army chief

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia’s army chief said on Friday that the partial military mobilization carried out in the fall of 2022 was of scales, unseen since the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

Colonel-General Yevgeny Burdinsky, head of the Russian General Staff's Main Mobilization Department, said in an interview with the Russian military magazine Military commissariats that more than 55,000 citizens were called up from the reserve in 1979 to take part in the war in Afghanistan, whereas 31,000 soldiers were involved in the liquidation of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in 1986.

In 2022, however, over 300,000 citizens reported to the military service, Burdinsky said.

According to him, the most important task of national importance designated by Russian President Vladimir Putin for 2023 is to recruit people for military service under the contract.

He also announced the formation of two new military districts in Russia – Moscow and Leningrad – to better organize the work of the country's expanding armed forces.

This year will also see the formation of two new armies, combined arms, and air, as well as five divisions and 26 brigades.

In December, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu announced that two new large formations of the armed forces would be needed in 2023.

Speaking at a board of military chiefs meeting in Moscow, Shoygu explained the necessity, citing "NATO's desire to increase military potential near the Russian borders, as well as to expand the North Atlantic Alliance at the expense of Finland and Sweden."