Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced on Friday that the “partial mobilization” announced in September had ended and the goal of mobilizing 300,000 reservists had been met, Reuters and AFP reported.

Shoigu informed Vladimir Putin that 82 thousand mobilized conscripts are already in the conflict zone, another 218 thousand are in training camps.

The Russian president congratulated the “patriotism” of the mobilized.

“I want to thank everyone who joined the Russian army,” Putin said, thanking the mobilized reservists for “protecting” their country, homes and families.

The completion of the partial mobilization comes exactly two weeks after Putin predicted the goal would be met.

Exactly two weeks ago, Putin said he had no intention of expanding the “partial” mobilization he announced in September for the conflict in Ukraine.

“Nothing more is planned. No proposals have been received from the Ministry of Defense, and I do not see the need for this in the near future,” Putin said at the press conference.

On the other hand, a statistical analysis by Mediazone, an independent media outlet in Russia, found that some 492,000 men were likely drafted into the army after Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced the “partial mobilization” of 300,000 men on September 21, Kyiv Independent. quotation.

But at the heart of the analysis was an unusual fact, Mediazona’s estimate was extrapolated on the basis of an explosion of registered marriages, because recruited men can register a marriage in a day, instead of waiting a month, as usual.

Numerous videos of mass weddings of conscripts and their brothers throughout Russia have appeared on the Internet.

Mediazona counted the number of registered weddings in 75 regions, comparing this number with the percentage of unmarried couples to get the proportion mobilized, resulting in a final estimate of 492,000 across the country.