Putin says that 222,000 are mobilized in Russia

He said this during a press conference in Astana, Russian media reports. 

"I will additionally instruct the Security Council of the Russian Federation to conduct an inspection of how the training of mobilized citizens is carried out," he said.

According to Putin, all those mobilized must undergo mandatory training. Out of 300,000, 222,000 men have already been mobilized. Of these, 33,000 mobilized are already in units, and 16,000 are performing combat missions.

According to the Russian president, the war in Ukraine lacks only contractors with the Russian Armed Forces. That is why mobilization in Russia was necessary.

"It is almost impossible to maintain a defense line of 1,000 kilometers exclusively with troops formed from contractors," Putin said.

The Russian president's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, separately stated that "Putin's words about the timing of the mobilization mean that it will end in 2 weeks."