Russia rules out a mobilization to replace Wagner fighters
A senior Russian lawmaker has ruled out the idea of a new mobilization to replace members of the Wagner paramilitary group who have stopped fighting in Ukraine, the state agency TASS reported on Monday. “The President of the Russian Federation (Vladimir Putin) clearly and understandably and specifically said that there will be no new mobilization,” said Andrei Kartapolov, head of the Defense Committee of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament. “There is no need for mobilization today or in the near future,” he added. According to this former military commander, “there is no threat of reducing combat potential” in the medium and long term, and Moscow has troops within the Russian armed forces to replace them, “he explained to TASS.