MOSCOW, September 21 (RAPSI) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a partial mobilization in the country from 21 September.

“I find it necessary to support the proposal of the Defense Ministry and the General Staff on partial mobilization in the Russian Federation to defend our Motherland and its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to ensure the safety of our people and people in the liberated territories”, the President said in his address.

The mobilization is to be only partial, that is, only military reservists, primarily those who served in the armed forces and have specific military occupational specialties and corresponding experience, will be called up, according to Putin.

As the President stressed, by now Russian troops act along a protracted line of contact that is over 1,000 kilometers long. They are “...fighting not only against neo-Nazi units but actually the entire military machine of the collective West,” Putin noted, stressing that his decision is fully adequate to the threats the country faces.