Putin Signs Decree Calling Citizens for Military Gatherings

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on December 8, calling citizens to military gatherings scheduled for 2026.

According to the document available on the legal information portal, reservists will be sent for annual training, and the government of the Russian Federation along with regional authorities are obliged to organize it.

The decree, which takes effect immediately, contains two classified sections marked "for official use only." These sections presumably outline the number of citizens to be sent for training and the duration of the training.

Winter military training is a rare occurrence in Russia. Last year, Putin signed a decree calling for it to take place in January, marking the first time in 20 years. Similar decrees were signed on March 1, 2024, May 10, 2023, April 26 in 2022 and 2021, and June 29, 2020. The training camp in 2019 was announced at the end of February and occurred in March, while from 2004 to 2018, training camps typically began between March and June.

Training camps were regularly held in January during the early 2000s, and Putin typically signed decrees about them on one of the last days of the year.

All young Russians are expected to undergo six months of military training to prepare for a large-scale war against NATO, as previously stated by Viktor Sobolev, a member of the State Duma's Defense Committee and lieutenant general.

“We do not have a prepared reserve capable of starting a large-scale war if NATO initiates one. One in ten has served in the army, while nine out of ten have never served. What kind of reserve will they form? Everything needs to change. We must conduct training camps; we need to train the youth in the DOSAAF system,” Sobolev explained.

According to him, “100% of young people must have a military registration specialty,” and this training requires at least six months.