MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/. There is no need for a new wave of mobilization in Russia and will be none in the nearest perspective after withdrawal of Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) from the zone of the special military operation in Ukraine, Head of the State Duma Defense Committee Andrey Kartapolov told TASS on Monday.
"No need for a new wave of mobilization… Russian President [Vladimir Putin] was clear and precise stating that there will be no new mobilization. There is a planned recruitment of servicemen on a contractual basis, there is a planned formation of [military] units and detachments, including the reserve, and their training is underway," he said.
"There is no need in organizing another mobilization wave today and will be none in the nearest future," Kartapolov stated.
President Putin stated in mid-June speaking at a meeting with war correspondents in Moscow that there was no need for an additional mobilization campaign in Russia. He stressed that more than 150,000 people have signed contracts with the Russian army since the beginning of the year. "Since this January, we have contracted more than 150,000 [people who want to serve in the army]. And together with volunteers, it is 156,000 people. And 300,000 were mobilized."
Speaking about Wagner fighters’ withdrawal from the zone of the special military operation, Kartapolov said there was no threat to the national combat potential as the Russian Armed Forces had sufficient means to replace them.
"At the time of the [attempted armed] mutiny there were no Wagner fighters at the front line as they were all stationed at their camps," he said. "The rebuff of the [Ukrainian] counter-offensive was conducted practically without their involvement."
"As for replacing them [Wagner PMC] in the reserve, we have something and someone to replace them with," Kartapolov continued.
The senior lawmaker added that as of today "there is no threat at all regarding a drop in the combat potential, both in the mid-term and long-term perspective."
The Telegram channel of Wagner private military company founder Yevgeny Prigozhin posted several audio records with his statements on the evening of June 23, in which he claimed that strikes had allegedly been delivered against his formations and accused the country’s military leadership of that.
The Russian Defense Ministry dismissed this information as false. The units of the Wagner private military company that supported Prigozhin moved towards the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and Moscow.
In the wake of this, the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia opened a criminal case into a call for an armed mutiny. In a televised address to the nation on June 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Wagnerites’ actions a betrayal.
Later, upon agreement with the Russian leader, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko held negotiations with Prigozhin, following which the Wagner private military company pulled back its military columns and returned to its field camps. The FSB press office announced on June 27 that the criminal case had been terminated.