(Reuters) – Russian airline and airport workers began receiving conscription notices after President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial military mobilization, media outlet Kommersant reported on Friday, citing sources.
Employees of at least five airlines, including Aeroflot, and staff at more than 10 airports received notices within a day of the mobilization order issued by the Russian president on Wednesday, the outlet said.
According to sources at three companies, 50 to 80 percent of employees could be called up, Kommersant said.
Aeroflot declined to comment.
Most airline pilots are reserve officers trained in the military departments of flight schools, or soldiers who have completed their military service.
Companies have started compiling and sending out lists of employees to be exempt from conscription, according to Kommersant.
On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin ordered Russia’s first mobilization since World War II and backed a plan to annex swaths of Ukraine, prompting some draft-age Russians to leave the country.
About 300,000 reservists, considered specialists with combat experience, are expected to be called up, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday.
All Russian men are required to complete one year of military service between the ages of 18 and 27.
(Report Anna Pruchnicka; French version Alizée Degorce, edited by Kate Entringer)
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