Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin had promised not to use conscripts in Ukraine, but only temporary and professional soldiers. When it became known that conscripts were nevertheless being drafted into the war, the Russian President publicly ordered their return.
The question is of great symbolic and political importance in Russia. The Kremlin has declared the war in Ukraine a “special military operation” and has indicated that only professional military personnel will fight there voluntarily. For the Russian leadership, the use of ordinary soldiers who have been drafted into military service entails the risk that popular support will dwindle. It is feared that fear of mobilization will grow and that the war in Ukraine will become as unpopular as that in Chechnya or Afghanistan.
Statements from soldiers are already indicating that the deployment is by no means purely voluntary. Many soldiers said they had been assigned to an exercise and suddenly found themselves in the war. Others report that they were pressured into signing a contract as a contract soldier.