From the special operation to the partial mobilization… What is the significance of Putin’s latest decision?

On Wednesday, The Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree declaring partial mobilization in the Russian Federation.

Partial mobilization is based on the implementation of the recruitment of citizens of the Russian Federation who have previous military experience, or who have undergone military courses in the army, and have a certain level of training, to participate in the fighting in Ukraine, without asking the general public.

This is what distinguishes it from the general mobilization that affects all segments of society between the ages of 18 and 50.

Military service contracts concluded by military personnel in this case are based on a specific material allowance, and they are valid until the end of the partial mobilization period.

In light of this decision, senior officials in Russia, according to the official document of the declaration, must ensure conscription through partial mobilization within the time limits set by the Ministry of Defense.

In the event that there are not a number of people wishing to join, the state takes a decision to compel anyone who has military experience, or who has completed a specific course, to join the military.

Putin’s declaration of bold mobilization in Russia means that the Russian leadership has taken a decision to move from the stage of a “special operation” to declaring “protecting Russia’s sovereignty” in the face of the West.

A “special operation” is an operation based on a specific category of the army, which carries out specific and clear military action.

In the case of the Russian military operation, the goal was only to “eliminate Nazism in Ukraine”.

Now the battle has entered the stage of “the war on Ukraine”, which is a comprehensive battle related to the sovereignty of Russia itself, and not only the threat from Ukraine, and groups of the people, not the army alone, and the various categories of the army, not specific teams or groups of it, will fight together over wide geography, and within a country or group of other countries.

In the war, the battle will refrain from targeting only specific areas, as happened in the “special operation,” and the war will develop into a broader field that may include, according to expectations, targeting Crimea, infrastructure, and decision centers in Kyiv.

If Kherson, Zaporizhia and the Donbas are included, the battles in them will become battles within what is considered “Russian lands”.

According to the Russian President, Russia is ready to use “all means” to protect its territory, including Moscow’s willingness to use weapons of mass destruction if it is forced to make such a decision.

The announcement of the decision, reflects Russia’s quest to achieve specific goals before the start of the winter season, on the one hand, and on the other hand, the end of the last phase and the start of a new phase of the conflict in Ukraine.

Undoubtedly, it will carry an escalation against the West, which Putin called in his speech today the enemy who will be fighting to protect Russia.