Russia is reportedly trying to censor media coverage of a rumoured second mass mobilisation of reserve troops to stamp out discontent in the leadup to next year’s presidential elections.
Pro-Kremlin media have allegedly received a memo issuing guidelines and including an ‘urgent request’ to downplay speculation that Russia might be getting ready to call up more reservists to funnel into its brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Opposition outlet Meduza yesterday claimed to have seen the guidelines, shared by employees working for state-controlled media. One reportedly told the publication: ‘Everybody knows, if the government is denying something’s going to happen, it’s definitely happening.’
The memo allegedly told pro-Kremlin outlets to instead focus on coverage of contract recruitment for the military.
Russia has upped efforts to censor dissident voices this year. Only on Thursday, State Duma Deputy Anton Gorelkin said that Russia should consider blocking WhatsApp in Russia if the app launches Russian language channels.
State censor Roskomnadzor added that Russia could block WhatsApp if it disseminates prohibited information as the application prepares to launch a channel feature to feature over 150 countries, likely including Russia.
A Russian reservist bids farewell to relatives before his departure for a base in the course of partial mobilisation of troops, in Gatchina, Russia, on October 1, 2022
Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi, Russia, on September 15, 2023. Putin seeks reelection in the 2024 presidential elections
Rumours of a second call-up of reserves have mounted in the lead-up to the start of the six-monthly conscription cycle on October 1.
Earlier this month, a fake photograph of a signed mobilisation order caused a stir on Russian social media.
Media insiders reportedly told Meduza that they had been instructed to abstain from all discussion of the incident – and even to avoid refuting fake news.
But anxious rumours of another looming mass mobilisation order continue to circle online.
A Russian Telegram channel claiming ties to Russian security sources stated earlier this week that officials want to recruit some 170,000 – 175,000 troops in the next cycle.
Officials also allegedly hope to move the start of conscription to November 1 to accommodate new mobilisation processes, while recruiting 130,000 soldiers through coercive ‘contract mobilisation’.
The Institute for the Study of War assessed on Tuesday that top officials are ‘actively disagreeing about the necessity of and preparations for a second wave of reserve mobilisation’, however.
But speculation is not likely to help Putin’s popularity ahead of the upcoming 2024 elections, Meduza observed.
It judged: ‘The Kremlin’s intent… is to re-elect the incumbent president with record unanimity: the goal is to garner at least 80 percent of the vote with a turnout of 70 percent or more.’
State Duma and Federation Council members went so far as to propose blocking WhatsApp in a bid to control online content and limit access to prohibited information.
Following Meta’s decision to launch a channel feature to over 150 countries, likely including Russia, Russian officials proposed an outright ban on the application.
Politician and journalist Alexander Khinshtein wrote on Telegram on Thursday: ‘I share the position of my colleague [State Duma Deputy Anton] Gorelkin: if What’s App [sic] really launches Russian-language information channels, it would be right to reconsider the attitude towards this messenger, even to the point of blocking it.
‘There is no doubt about the anti-Russian nature of these channels, since [WhatsApp] belongs to the extremist company Meta with all the ensuing consequences.’
Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, was designated an extremist organisation in March 2022.
Its products have since been banned in Russia.
Lieutenant general Serhii Naiev, Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, controls a captured Russian T72B3 tank during military exercises on September 8
A Ukrainian serviceman fires a 2S22 Bohdana self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, at a position in Donetsk region, Ukraine September 13, 2023
Russia’s presidential elections are scheduled to be held in March 2024, with the winner inaugurated next May.
Putin has not yet confirmed whether or not he will run again.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday: ‘The president has not yet announced that he will nominate his candidacy.
‘But if we assume that the president stands as a candidate, then it is obvious that there can be no real competition for the president at this current stage,’ Peskov was quoted as saying by RBC.
