Russia’s defense minister said the number of reservists called up for the “special military operation” would reach 300,000, but the statements were questioned with a news report reporting a secret clause and a much higher number. Be that as it may, observers question the measure’s effectiveness and the phrase “cannon fodder” is used to define it. While men were transported to military installations in the most remote and poor regions, the flight from the country continues in the major cities.
A government source told the Novaya Gazeta Europe (established in April by former journalists of the Russian newspaper after its closure) which hides the presidential decree on partial military mobilization. Of the ten articles in the document signed by Vladimir Putin, which can be accessed online, the seventh reads “for official use,” a wording to inform that that passage is classified.
Until Novaya Gazeta Europe a source with access to the original document said the article sets the maximum number of partial mobilizations: “The number was corrected several times and finally it was set at one million.” Russia has one million soldiers on active duty and two million in reserve out of a total of 25 million who have completed military service.
The Kremlin spokesman, who had told journalists the day before that the clause under the classification referred to the total number of reservists and that this was the number revealed by Minister Sergei Shoigu – raising the obvious question about the relevance of hiding from a certain audience -, replied the day after the news with one word: “A lie,” claimed Dmitri Peskov.
The Russian military has long felt the lack of human resources and the problem has worsened in recent weeks. Because Putin did not declare war, the invasion relied on a mix of elite troops, contractors, volunteers, forced volunteers (prisoners and Ukrainians driven to the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass), and even mercenaries. The first consequence of military mobilization is that military contractors on the ground have no right to return home until ordered otherwise.
Putin in his speech to the Russians assured that he does not want students with guns in their hands, and that the calls from the reservations will be people with experience in the armed forces. However, the decree provides for only one exception: workers in the military-industrial complex.
For former US military commander in Europe, Mark Hertling, the announcement is “stunning”. The former soldier, who has visited barracks in Russia twice, says the basic training of Russian soldiers is “poor”, just like the leaders, so he foresees an “extremely difficult” mobilization, in addition to taking “newbies to a devastated frontline”. and in a bad mood”.
Michael Kofman, director of the CNA Defense Institute, quoted as saying: New York Times, said the measure “is starting to respond to the structural problems Russia has had with the labor shortage”. “However, it won’t change much of the problems the Russian military has had in this war, and the army will be limited in the number of additional troops they can deploy on the ground.”
This is because, as the war continues, losses in equipment and ammunition increase and economic sanctions easily prevent their replacement. “Without massive artillery support, these new soldiers will be cannon fodder this winter, sitting in cold, wet trenches as Ukrainian forces keep pushing,” said another former US commander, Frederick Hodges.
Zelensky wants to punish Russia
In an intervention welcomed by the majority of those present at United Nations headquarters, the Ukrainian president defended Russia’s punishment for invading his country. “A crime has been committed against Ukraine and we demand a just punishment,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message. This sentence includes the lifting of the veto in the Security Council, the creation of a special court to try war crimes and in which prosecutors seek Russian money for war reparations.
Zelensky ignored the nuclear threat in Vladimir Putin’s latest speech, saying, “Only one entity of all UN member states would now say, if she could interrupt my speech, that she is happy about this war.” Ukraine, he continued, “will not let this entity prevail, despite being the largest state in the world.” To that end, his country needs continued external support, whether in arms and ammunition, or financially, he recalled. But it also needs more countries to profile themselves in the face of the Russian invasion, some of which, he criticized without mentioning, are afraid to relinquish their “private interests”.
Speaking about his roadmap for peace, which includes his country’s territorial integrity, guarantees of security and self-defense, he again criticized neutrality. “What does our formula for peace not mean? Neutrality. Whoever speaks of neutrality when people’s lives and values are attacked means something else.” And he finally said that Ukraine is ready for a “real, fair and just” peace, but on the other hand “they say they want to talk, but announce military mobilizations and pseudo-referendums”.
Source: DN
