Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday (22) defended his son Nikolai, accused of refusing to mobilize for Russian attack in Ukraineafter posting a phone conversation that went viral on the Internet.
In this video, a blogger calls the Russian speaker’s son live and introduces himself as an army conscript tasked with calling up reservists, following President Vladimir Putin’s announcement.
Says Dmitry Nezovtsev, presenter of the program “The subpoena was sent today” People’s PoliticsA YouTube channel set up by members of the Russian opposition circle, Alexei Navalny has been arrested. The blogger continues in a serious tone: “It has a number that you have to call and tomorrow, at 10 am, you have to inform the call center.”
Nikolai, 32, looked confused for a moment, and then replied: “Obviously, I will not go tomorrow at 10 in the morning,” noting that he would not allow himself to join the army. “You must understand that, being Peskov, it is not right for me to be there,” he added. “I will solve the problem on another level.”
“I have no problem defending the homeland,” he said in justification. “But I must first understand what I can do with regard to myself.”
Asked on Thursday about the video, Dmitry told reporters that he was aware of the case, but confirmed that “the full text (of the conversation) has not been published.”
On Wednesday, Putin announced a “partial mobilization” in which about 300,000 reservists with “military experience” participated. However, many Russians fear the mobilization will be much greater.
