The Russian General Staff said, Thursday, that nearly 10 thousand people volunteered to mobilize for the attack in Ukraine during the past 24 hours, after Vladimir Putin’s announcement.

• Read also: Moscow is preparing for annexation and the Russians are fleeing the mobilization

• Read also: The West is very close to an open confrontation with the Russians

• Read also: Climate of ‘fear and intimidation’ denounced in Russia

“During the first day of partial mobilization, about 10 thousand citizens themselves arrived at the military police stations, without waiting for their summons,” a spokesman for the General Staff confirmed to Interfax, Vladimir Tsemlyansky.

Pictures posted on social media claimed to show mobilization in the Yakutia region of Siberia, with face-locked men embracing their loved ones, some crying, before boarding the bus.

In other frames posted by the popular Telegram channel Mash, a row of men can be seen standing in front of the troop transport plane on the tarmac at night.

A video clip filmed in Chechnya, the Russian Caucasus republic, showed dozens of young men walking down the street, surrounded by police officers.

The Ministry of Defense did not release any official picture of the mobilization and did not give figures on the number of people who received summons to go to the army.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “partial mobilization” of only about 300,000 reservists with “military experience”. However, many Russians fear a larger mobilization.

More than 1,300 people were arrested across Russia on Wednesday during impromptu demonstrations against the mobilization.