Zelensky says Russia has launched a fresh mobilization; Putin decree adds 15,500 troops
On 28 September, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia has effectively begun a new wave of mobilization, expanding recruitment of foreigners and preparing an additional roughly 10,000 North Korean personnel alongside more than 8,000 already on Russian territory. The same day, Vladimir Putin signed a decree raising the authorized size of the Russian Armed Forces by 15,500 to 2,441,630 — the fourth such increase this year and the seventh since the start of the full-scale war. Zelensky also said Russia is paying North Korea with technology transfers and that Shahed-type drone production has been launched on North Korean soil.
Key points
- On 28 September, Zelensky said Russia has effectively begun an additional mobilization and is expanding its recruitment of foreigners.
- Putin the same day signed a decree raising the authorized size of the Russian Armed Forces by 15,500 to 2,441,630, including 1,550,500 servicemembers, effective the following Monday.
- Zelensky, citing intelligence, said more than 8,000 North Korean military personnel are on Russian territory and another ~10,000 are being selected for training and deployment.
- Zelensky said Russia is paying North Korea with technology transfers, and that Shahed-type strike drone production has been set up in North Korea.
- Zelensky said Ukraine will inform every government whose citizens Russia is trying to recruit into its armed forces.
- Zelensky called on partners to strengthen sanctions, citing the Lindsey Graham law and EU sanctions as possible tools.
- The decree is the fourth increase this calendar year and the seventh since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine.
Why it matters
Russia's fourth expansion of the armed forces' authorized size this year points to a sustained, escalating manpower build-up beyond what recruitment statistics show publicly. Plans to draw in tens of thousands more North Korean personnel and roughly 20,000 foreigners from Central Asia, Africa and South Asia indicate a deliberate strategy of sourcing manpower from third countries to offset domestic limits. Technology transfers enabling Shahed-type drone production in North Korea extend the Russia–North Korea partnership beyond ammunition and troops into industrial weapons manufacturing, with implications beyond Ukraine. Ukraine's framing of the moves as an effective covert mobilization is intended to keep pressure on Western partners to use sanctions tools such as the Lindsey Graham law and EU measures.
What happened
On 28 September 2026, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address that Russia has effectively begun an additional mobilization, increasing the number of recruits through various methods and expanding its recruitment of foreigners into the armed forces. He said Ukraine would inform the governments of every country whose citizens Russia is trying to recruit. Citing intelligence, Zelensky said more than 8,000 North Korean military personnel are on Russian territory and that another contingent of roughly 10,000 is being selected for training and deployment. He added that Russia is paying North Korea with technology transfers and that, with Russian technical support, production of Shahed-type strike drones has been launched on North Korean soil. Zelensky's statements were based on a report from Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR). On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree increasing the authorized size of the Russian Armed Forces by 15,500 to 2,441,630, including 1,550,500 military servicemembers, effective the following Monday. The previous figure had been 2,426,130 with 1,535,000 servicemembers under a July amendment. The decree is the fourth such increase in the calendar year and the seventh since the start of the full-scale war. Zelensky also called on Ukraine's partners to strengthen sanctions pressure on Russia, naming the Lindsey Graham law and EU sanctions as possible tools.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian sources center Zelensky as the authoritative voice on Russian manpower plans, presenting HUR's intelligence findings directly to the public. They emphasize that Russia is preparing an additional mobilization — including the recruitment of foreigners and North Koreans — as evidence of escalation, and highlight the Russia–North Korea technology transfer and the launch of Shahed-type drone production in North Korea as a new dimension of the partnership. Ukrainian reporting frames earlier intelligence statements about a 300,000–600,000 mobilization wave across 2026–2027 as part of a continuous Russian plan unfolding after the State Duma "elections," and urges Western partners to tighten sanctions using specific tools such as the Lindsey Graham law and EU sanctions.
How international sources describe it
International coverage leads with the 28 September Putin decree raising the authorized size of the Russian Armed Forces by 15,500 to 2,441,630 as the concrete, verifiable act, and contextualizes it as the fourth such increase this year and the seventh since the start of the full-scale war. It situates the change within a longer pattern rather than as a single announcement, and notes the underlying baseline: in recent years Russia has relied on open-ended contracts and substantial cash payments rather than new mobilization decrees to fill its ranks. International reporting also surfaces the South Korean reaction, treating Zelensky's disclosure at the UN General Assembly that two North Korean POWs had been transferred to South Korea as a diplomatic friction point with Seoul.
Where reporting differs
Russian and Ukrainian characterizations diverge: Zelensky frames Russia's actions as an effective additional mobilization, while Putin's 28 September decree is presented as an administrative adjustment to the armed forces' authorized size rather than a mobilization announcement. Zelensky's own earlier statements are also internally inconsistent on the scale of the planned manpower drive — roughly 300,000 in autumn 2026 per his 22 August statement, about 600,000 across 2026–2027 per the 27 August intelligence update, and 300,000–500,000 in autumn per earlier intelligence figures. Separately, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung accused Zelensky of violating a confidentiality agreement by disclosing the transfer of two North Korean POWs in his UN General Assembly speech, while Ukrainian-language sources present the disclosure as a routine part of Zelensky's address.
Background
Russia's September 2022 partial mobilization decree remains in force, but reporting indicates that in recent years the principal replenishment tool has been open-ended contracts with large cash payments to volunteers. Earlier Zelensky and Ukrainian intelligence statements in August laid out plans for a covert mobilization in autumn 2026 and an additional wave of 600,000 across 2026–2027 — figures disputed by Russia and not independently confirmed. Kyiv and Seoul have estimated that North Korea has sent 14,000–15,000 soldiers since 2024 and supplied artillery shells, ballistic missiles and rocket systems, and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung publicly criticized Zelensky's UN disclosure of two North Korean POWs being transferred to South Korea.