Putin acknowledges 'mistakes' with draft

Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(Image credit: Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

Amid ongoing protests over his mobilization of reservists, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted on Thursday some "mistakes" have been made, with men who qualify for deferments still being drafted.

This has raised "many questions," Putin said during a meeting with security officials that aired on state television, adding, "all mistakes must be corrected and prevented from happening in the future."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

During his Thursday remarks, Putin said the people who have been drafted but shouldn't have been include men who have three or more children and men who are above military age. He didn't take responsibility for the errors, the Times notes, and instead "shifted the blame for the failings of his policy to lower-level officials," telling them to "figure all this out. Without fuss, calmly, but quickly, in detail and thoroughly."

Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.