President Vladimir Putin on Thursday visited a training centre for mobilised Russians for the first time since announcing a partial military call-up on September 21.
State television showed Putin visiting a shooting centre in the Ryazan region, southeast of Moscow, dressed in black, shooting a newly developed sniper rifle and hugging military men.
Wearing ear protectors and safety glasses, Putin fired several shots from a Russian SVD sniper rifle.
He was also filmed speaking to officers, shaking hands with them and wishing them “good luck”.
The commander-in-chief “observed practical exercises” including fire drills, engineering and medical trainings, Russian state-run news agencies reported.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, by Putin’s side during the visit, gave him an update on the training of those called up in the draft, news agencies said.
More than 200,000 people have been conscripted into the Russian army since Putin announced the mobilisation drive, the defence ministry said.
Russia’s mobilisation is aimed at propping up Moscow’s forces in Ukraine after a series of military setbacks.
