Russian communist leader calls for "general mobilisation"

Gennady Zyuganov, leader of Russia's Communist Party (CPRF), speaking at a State Duma session this week, called the “special operation in Ukraine” a war and demanded general mobilization, Sota reports, according to The Insider.

“How is a special military operation different from a war? You can stop a military operation at any time. You can't stop a war; it either ends in victory or defeat. What I’m saying is that there is a war going on, and we have no right to lose it. We must not panic now. We need a complete mobilization of the country. We need completely different laws,” Sota quotes Zyuganov as saying.

CPRF Duma deputy Mikhail Matveev proposed that governors and lawmakers enlist in the army as volunteers.

Mikhail Degtyarev, the governor of the Khabarovsk Krai, stated a few days ago he would go to Ukraine as a volunteer, but he could not because he had no right to leave his important post. In response, Khabarovsk Krai residents submitted a petition proposing to “help the governor fulfil his dream of joining the fighting in Donbas,” which was signed by tens of thousands of people.

Meanwhile in Russia, criminal cases against individuals are still being opened en masse under articles about “fakes” and “discrediting” the army.

Specifically, on July 8, Alexei Gorinov, a municipal deputy from the Krasnoselsky District of Moscow, was sentenced to 7 years in a penal colony under the article about military “fakes.” According to the investigators, the politician made a number of statements “containing untrue information about the Russian Armed Forces” during a meeting of the Council of Deputies. Gorinov called the “special military operation” in Ukraine a “war” and spoke about the deaths of Ukrainian children.