Russia plans to send around 10,000 mobilized reservists and soldiers home for "various reasons," Interfax quoted Andrey Kartapolov, the chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee, as saying in St. Petersburg on Friday.
The 10,000 troops are part of a larger mobilization which included some 300,000 soldiers called up to try and help the Russian effort in the war with Ukraine. Russia invaded the neighboring country on February 24, 2022.
Kartapolov also noted that Russia will 'examine' situations in which civilians who are ill-suited for combat service were drafted into the Russian military. "Of course, if there are such cases, they are investigated, and, of course, the person will be returned," he said.
Less than a month ago, Russia began another forced enlistment that would include migrant workers and the homeless population. It is not clear how many non-Russian foreign subjects were forcibly recruited. It is estimated that there are several hundred, and it is doubtful that the countries from which they came are aware of this. Many of those migrant workers entered Russia illegally, and are without proper legal status.
If Russian troops are sent home, why did Putin mobilize reservists?
Earlier this month, The Jerusalem Post reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin explained how "it was necessary to declare a partial mobilization because the length of the line of contact with Ukraine exceeds a thousand kilometers, making it impossible to protect it only by "contract" soldiers.
Some conscripts were reported to be receiving little to no training, with one report claiming a Moscow resident was killed after "receiving no training and being sent straight to combat."
Putin stated that the training is indeed short, and in some cases consists of under two weeks of training in total.
The Russian president said that the partial mobilization was planned to wrap up within two weeks.