The Kremlin has decided to secretly mobilize all its resources to recruit a sufficient number of fighters to allow it to face the imminent Ukrainian counter-offensive without causing a new mass flight of men of military age.
The goal is to recruit 415,000 soldiers, of which a quarter (115,000) would be sent directly to the front and the rest would go into the reserve, according to US intelligence data. All indications point to the fact that the Russian Army is now betting on securing control of the territories already occupied in Ukraine, rather than increasing its territorial gains, with the exception of a couple of sectors in Donbas.
Therefore, according to ‘The Washington Post’, Putin would have given the go-ahead to this covert mobilization, information confirmed by other local and foreign media. According to those leaks, the Russian Army urgently needs 50,000 soldiers on the Ukrainian front and another 40,000 in the reserve. To which we must add that the head of the Kremlin approved the proposal to increase the number of members of the Armed Forces to 1.5 million by 2026, of which some 700,000 must be professional soldiers.
In addition, as reported by Olga Románova, head of the NGO ‘Rus Sidiaschaya’ (Russia Behind Bars), the Ministry of Defense has also initiated a massive mobilization in prisons. According to his calculations, Moscow has recruited 10,000 inmates in April alone, who are commanded by private military companies, including the Wagner Group, which last year recruited 50,000 prisoners. “Now an absolutely desperate mobilization is taking place. We have never seen anything like it. Not even during Wagner’s time,” she said.
The Meduza portal reports that the Presidential Administration is concerned about the popular reaction to the new law promulgated by Putin that restricts the rights of Russians of military age by introducing electronic notifications, which theoretically prevent them from leaving the country.
The Kremlin is already preparing the presidential elections in March 2024, where it wants to achieve a historic victory for Putin – the constitutional reform allows him to remain in power until 2036 – that shows the West that his power is all-encompassing.
As reported this week by the Prosecutor’s Office, the courts agreed with 15,000 Russians who were mobilized by mistake for different reasons, be they parents of large families, workers in strategic or health sectors.
In February 2022, Russia deployed some 150,000 soldiers in Ukraine, to which must be added the 300,000 reservists mobilized last September by Putin and the 50,000 that make up Wagner’s units.
In recent weeks, small stands have appeared in front of Moscow metro stations with volunteers handing out pamphlets for those interested in signing professional contracts with the Armed Forces. On the front are the economic conditions and on the back the steps to follow to register at the new recruitment center set up at the beginning of the month by the City Council of the capital. “The front needs soldiers who are motivated and ready to fight. The more there are on the front, the better the mood in the ranks of the Russian Army,” he says.
Soldiers who end up on the battlefield can receive a minimum of 210,000 rubles a month (about $2,500), as long as they are over 18 years of age.
In addition, Defense launched an aggressive advertising campaign of agitation and propaganda on television appealing to the “manliness” of the Russians. “You are a macho. Behave like one,” the video states after introducing a security guard, a taxi driver and a gym instructor who imagine themselves wearing their uniforms.
In addition, the press has also denounced that the authorities and military commissioners are desperate to meet the spring recruitment quotas for compulsory military service, for which they have delivered numerous notifications to universities, despite the fact that many of the recipients have extensions for studies. It matters little that some of these young people have also been exempted at the time for health reasons. If they do not present a medical certificate, they may be conscripted.
Human rights activists informed EFE that anyone who does not want to serve the country, whether recruited or mobilized, can object and comply with what is known as the Alternative Civil Service without fear of being prosecuted.
“In September, many panicked and went abroad. The curious thing is that there is no criminal case for refusing to be mobilized. It is not mandatory to emigrate. The law is on your side,” they commented, alluding to the hundreds of thousands of Russians who have gone into exile since September 2022.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
