Russian media instructed by Putin to conceal second wave of mobilization ahead of elections in Russia

This was reported by the Ukrainian Center for Strategic Communications.

Most likely, the Kremlin has instructed Russian media to minimize coverage of rumors about the second wave of hybrid mobilization and not to publish official refutations.

"Ahead of the elections in Russia in March, Putin does not need the increased "anxiety" of officials and their families, because they will vote against him or not vote at all. And the Central Election Commission has been tasked with ensuring record levels of "popular support" for all the times Putin has been in power," explains the Center for Strategic Communications.

At the Eastern Economic Forum, Vladimir Putin did not answer the question about the possibility of a second wave of mobilization, but began to claim that 1,000-1,500 people sign contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry every day.

"And our Russian men, realizing what awaits them, go consciously and voluntarily," Putin said.

The Center for Strategic Communications argues that Putin is lying that men join the army voluntarily. Those who signed the contract were promised "big money".

Earlier, the head of the State Duma Defense Committee, General Kartapolov, spoke more than any other Russian official about the second wave of mobilization. In July, he said that "it was decided to leave the lower limit of the conscription age at 18 years, because a lot of boys want to serve at this age." But lately, neither he nor the main propagandists of the Russian Federation have been covering this topic.

The Kremlin has ordered propagandists to work on news about the recruitment of contract soldiers, which is allegedly going very well.

An employee of a pro-Kremlin publication explained to Meduza that comments about additional mobilization get a lot of views and people learn about fakes from them: "And as they say in Russia, if the government denies something, it means it will happen for sure."

• Mobilization in the Russian Federation does not stop. The Russian authorities are considering drafting 450,000 people to fight in Ukraine.