MOSCOW, June 8. /TASS/. A military call-up is currently not needed in Russia, Andrey Kartapolov, chairman of the Russian State Duma Defense Committee, said on Thursday.
"There is no need for mobilization right now. [Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman] Dmitry <…> Medvedev mentioned the figure the other day, saying that we have 137,000 service members who have been contracted recently. And according to my information, this flow is steady and unstoppable," the lawmaker said on the Soloviev Live TV channel.
Kartapolov pointed out that Russia’s mobilization reserve currently has enough people.
"While a new automated system of military registration, which is digital, will allow us to replenish the capacity," the committee’s chairman said.
The lawmaker recalled that once a military call-up is needed, nobody will be drafted via text message.
"A notice and a text message are two different things. It is written in black and white in the government’s decree, the draft of which has been published, that a notification about the military draft can be done through SMS messaging," he said.
According to Kartapolov, the system was developed for only one reason: to make it more convenient for citizens, since mobile communication is available to almost all people at all times.
It was reported that the draft decree, drawn up at the request of the Russian Defense Ministry and published on the federal website of regulatory bills, makes amendments to the clause on the mobilization of citizens. In particular, it is suggested that the draftees be notified via text message.