Putin Admits Mistake in Mobilization Order Implementation... "Will Send Back Wrongly Drafted People"

Political Burden Grows as Approval Rating Falls Below 80%
Indiscriminate Conscription of Elderly and Chronic Patients in Some Areas

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that victims have arisen due to wrongful conscription cases following the declaration of the partial mobilization order and stated that he will correct these mistakes. Since the announcement of the partial mobilization order, more than 200,000 men eligible for conscription have fled Russia, and with approval ratings plummeting, it is interpreted that the Putin administration has begun to feel significant political pressure internally.

According to TASS news agency on the 29th (local time), President Putin said at a National Security Council meeting held at the Kremlin, "Many questions have been raised during the implementation of the partial mobilization order. All mistakes made during the conscription process must be corrected and recurrence prevented," adding, "It is a wrongful case that men with many children, chronic illness patients, university students, and those past conscription age were mobilized, and all those wrongly conscripted will be sent back."

President Putin’s direct acknowledgment of problems arising during the mobilization conscription process is seen as a measure responding to the deteriorated public sentiment following the mobilization order announcement. After the partial mobilization order was declared on the 21st, over 200,000 Russian citizens, mainly men subject to conscription, fled abroad, and large-scale anti-mobilization protests erupted nationwide, causing public sentiment to worsen drastically.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

Previously, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced exemptions for university students and chronic illness patients, but in some regions, indiscriminate conscription occurred due to administrative errors by local governments, conscripting not only university students and chronic illness patients but also elderly people, leading to growing dissatisfaction.

High approval ratings of over 80% for President Putin since the Ukraine invasion have also collapsed. A public opinion poll conducted by Russia’s independent polling agency Levada Center from the 22nd to the 28th showed that Putin’s approval rating dropped 6% from 83% last month to 77%. This is the first time since March, right after the Ukraine invasion, that the approval rating fell below 80%.

Notably, this poll was conducted immediately after President Putin’s partial mobilization announcement on the 21st, reflecting widespread public dissatisfaction with the mobilization order. The Levada Center pointed out, "The sudden announcement of the mobilization order has caused public anxiety, fear, and dissatisfaction."

President Putin promised to strengthen management of the mobilization conscription and reiterated that the West bears all responsibility for the war. He stated, "The West tries to incite color revolutions and bloodshed in other countries," emphasizing, "This Ukraine war is a consequence of the collapse of the former Soviet Union."

The color revolutions mentioned by President Putin refer to events such as the Rose Revolution in Georgia in 2003 and the Orange Revolution in Ukraine the following year, where pro-Russian regimes in countries that gained independence from the Soviet Union were overthrown through anti-government protests.