Putin Mobilizes Reservists to Secure Key Infrastructure Amid Rising Threats

On Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin issued an executive order that empowers the military to call upon members of its mobilization reserve next year for “special” assemblies focused on safeguarding critical infrastructure.

The directive instructs the government to compile a list of facilities needing protection, while the Defense Ministry is assigned the role of identifying the military units responsible for these assemblies.

Russia’s mobilization reserve is made up of volunteers who have signed contracts for periodic military service. Previously, reservists were only eligible for combat assignments during mobilization or wartime and were usually called for training no more than once a year.

In November, Putin enacted legislation that broadened the conditions under which reservists could be activated, permitting summons during peacetime for these “special” assemblies aimed at protecting critical infrastructure and other essential sites identified by the government.

The business publication Kommersant reported that recruitment efforts have already commenced in several regions to bring reservists into units assigned to the protection of these facilities.

This development comes as Russia grapples with increasing difficulties in defending military sites and vital infrastructure against Ukrainian drone strikes, which have increasingly targeted oil and gas facilities crucial to the nation’s energy sector.