Putin calls up military reserve to service
On April 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree calling Russian citizens in reserve to two month service duty in 2017.
The decree was published on Thursday on the Garant legal information portal.
Putin decreed to “call up in 2017 Russian citizens who are in reserve, to carry out military service for a period up to two months in the Russian Armed Forces, in the national defense bodies and the Federal Security Service bodies”.
Two other sections of this decree are classified “for service use”.
Earlier on Thursday, Secretary the National Defense and Security Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov said that the Kremlin is continuing to prepare for full-scale war. In particular, Turchynov does not rule out that the joint Russian-Belarusian “Zapad 2017” exercises could be a preparation for an offensive operation.
In September, the “Zapad 2017” large-scale military exercises will be held at several training grounds in Russia and Belarus. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that it is “not yet ready” to inform NATO about the upcoming military exercises.