The seventh paragraph of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decree on mobilization, intended for internal use, states that up to one million people can be drafted into the army, Russian media Novaya Gazeta reported on Sept. 22, citing unnamed sources in the Kremlin. "They changed the figure several times and eventually settled on a million," the source said.
On Sept. 21, Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov claimed that this paragraph indicates the number of people who can be drafted into the army. He emphasized that it only includes information about the 300,000 conscripts earlier announced by Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
On Sept. 22, Peskov denied that Russia will call up one million people, speaking with the Russian state-controlled news agency RIA Novosti.
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