Employees at Russian airlines and airports have begun receiving enlistment notices for the army because of President Vladimir Putin’s order for a partial military mobilization across the country, Reuters reported on Friday (23) citing sources.
Most of the pilots at the airlines are reserve officers trained in military departments at flight schools, or soldiers who have completed their military service. Employees of at least five airlines, including Russia’s main carrier Aeroflot, and more than 10 airports have received mobilization notices.
According to sources at three companies, potentially 50-80% of employees could be recalled, with one source close to Aeroflot saying that more than half the staff of three of the group’s airlines could be recalled.
As reported by our media partner Aeroin, at least five companies have started compiling, and two have already sent, lists of employees to be exempted from military service, as the exemption is critical not only for pilots and air traffic controllers, but also for technical, commercial and IT specialists, the report said.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday that some 300,000 reservists would be drafted.
