Kremlin Secretly Held Mobilization Drills in Kaliningrad

Russian authorities have carried out training exercises for a potential population mobilization in the Kaliningrad region, as well as in other parts of the country. This was reported by an American newspaper citing sources, who noted that Moscow has not yet made a final decision on an actual mobilization — it has most likely been postponed until after the September elections to the State Duma.

According to the publication, officers were sent from St. Petersburg to oversee the drills. Military personnel monitored the region's readiness planning for a possible mobilization, working through issues such as housing, food supply, and arming mobilized personnel. The report notes that similar drills were held not only in the Kaliningrad region — which is surrounded by NATO countries — but "across the entire country."

A Shortage of Soldiers and Putin's Goals in Donbas

Journalists link the mobilization drills to the fact that the Russian army has struggled in recent months to recruit enough new volunteers to make up for losses killed and wounded at the front. Meanwhile, according to sources, Russian President Vladimir Putin still intends to seize full control of the Donbas — Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

This is precisely why, American and European officials say, Putin may announce a new wave of mobilization — "one unlike anything Russia has seen in many years."

Lessons from 2022 and Fears of a New Wave

During the so-called "special military operation," as Russia officially calls its war against Ukraine launched in 2022, Putin has declared mobilization only once — in September 2022. That move plunged the country into chaos, with hundreds of thousands of men of conscription age fleeing abroad to avoid being sent to the front.

According to the newspaper, rumors of a new mobilization wave are already stirring anxiety inside Russia: men are searching online for ways to leave the country urgently, and some have already picked a destination to wait out any potential call-up. The paper notes a rise in traffic at the borders with Georgia and Armenia, as well as rising real estate prices in those countries.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz