While Russia’s defense minister said the call would apply to those who have served, have combat experience or have special military skills, Putin’s order was vague, prompting fears it would be open to interpretation. Aleksandr G, a Russian army reservist, speaks to The Telegraph anonymously due to security concerns: On Tuesday I went to bed late. Like many other Russians that night, I was waiting for Vladimir Putin’s delayed speech, where he was to announce the mobilization. The news catches me while I’m abroad. I was planning on staying with friends for a few days, but now it looks like it was a one-way street. I am trying to get rid of the thought that I will not return to Russia. Like most men in Russia, I have a military rank. I am a sergeant and reservist. We have compulsory military service – you are required to serve for one year after turning 18. You can reduce this to just one month if you enroll in the military training center at the university. That’s how I got my degree. In theory as a graduate of a military center I am a second class reservist. This means that during a mobilization I must be called not with the first, but with the second wave of recruits. But the conscription order issued Wednesday is worded in such a way that everyone can be called up. The seventh paragraph of the decree – which concerns the numbers to be mobilized – is classified. The government says 300,000 bayonets must be assembled. I don’t believe them.
