0756GMT//Russia calls up military reservists; Putin laments tax rises; Russian ambassador to North Korea dies

MILITARY RESERVISTS CALLED UP: Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered Russia's military reserves to be called up for training next year. In October, Putin had signed a decree that allowed regional governments to mobilise reserves into anti-drone units. (COMMENT>> Although some analysts have said that this is a Kremlin "mobilisation by stealth", it's unclear if this decree will allow Putin to send reservists to battlefields in Ukraine. Currently, the decree allows them to be called up for two months of training, although new legislation in October does now permit reserves to be deployed to regular units outside Russia for the first time. Regardless, it generates headlines and builds pressure on Ukraine as peace talks grind on.)

PUTIN LAMENTS TAX RISE: At a meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects on Monday, Putin dodged responsibility for increasing VAT by two percentage points to pay for his war in Ukraine. He said that the tax rise, which has triggered unease and rare anti-government mutterings, was the brainchild of the Central Bank. He also admitted that despite various government perks, Russia's birth rate remained stubbornly flat. (COMMENT>> Putin's performance at the meeting was instructive. He was unusually defensive, sensing that the VAT tax rise was unpopular. This was unveiled a couple of months ago, specifically to raise cash for his armies and will see VAT in Russia rise to 22% from 20% on Jan. 1. On Russia's flatlining birth rate, Putin sounded exasperated. He has made it his pet project to boost births, but has found it hard.)

INDIAN MIGRATION TO RUSSIA: Russia will accept an "unlimited" number of Indian migrants under a deal signed by Vladimir Putin and Indian PM Narendra Modi last week. Denis Manturov, Russia's first deputy PM, said that Russia needed 800,000 workers in industry and 1.5 million in trade. (COMMENT>> Russia's war in Ukraine has created a huge workforce problem for Russia as men have opted to take massive pay rises to fight in Ukraine. At the same time, Russia has tightened border controls on Central Asian migrants. This means that the Kremlin has turned to recruiting Indian migrant workers en masse for the first time.)

AMBASSADOR TO NORTH KOREA DIES: Russia's ambassador to North Korea, Alexander Matsegora, has died. The Kremlin didn't give a cause of death. Matsegora, 70, was last seen in public last week chatting to Russian students learning Korean. (COMMENT>> Behind the scenes, Matsegora has been an influential figure for the Kremlin. He helped set up deals in 2023 and 2024 that brought North Korean soldiers onto Russia's side against Ukraine. Matsegora had been Russia's ambassador to North Korea since 2014 and was fluent in Korean. He spent his entire career, in one capacity or another, working for Soviet and then Russian interests in North Korea. Russia's foreign ministry said that it had lost "one of the most outstanding representatives of the Russian diplomatic school", which goes some way to highlighting the regard that Matsegora was held in.)