AFU General Staff: Despite announced completion of ‘partial mobilization’, Russia continues to recruit so-called ‘volunteers’ to participate in war on Ukrainian territory

KYIV. Nov 4 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Russian military leadership continues to recruit so-called "volunteers" to participate in the war on the territory of Ukraine, despite the announced completion of "partial mobilization," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on Thursday.

"The servicemen received instructions on the further formation of the so-called volunteer units. These ‘volunteers’ can be men with an expunged criminal record, without restriction of age and any state of health, except for persons with the official status of a disabled person. In order to avoid legal and financial obligations, the conclusion of a contract with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation with such persons is not envisaged," the message says.

It notes that previously mobilized personnel have a low level of moral and psychological state, which leads to "emergency incidents in places of deployment."

"So, in the units of the 57 motorized rifle division of the so-called territorial troops, at the stage of coordination in Kazan, more than 15 soldiers and sergeants voluntarily left the unit, and during the redeployment to Ukraine, two more mobilized committed suicide," the General Staff stressed.

They add that the main problem of the already operating occupation units, in addition to private military campaigns, remains the low training of personnel and the rapid failure of military equipment removed from storage, which has not been properly serviced.