The Kremlin said on Tuesday that despite Ukraine’s gains in the northeastern Kharkiv region, there are no plans for a mobilization, which would involve a nationwide draft.
“At this moment — no, it is not on the agenda,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked if the government was considering a full or partial mobilization, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
Russia has made efforts to increase its military amid the fighting in Ukraine but hasn’t ordered a full mobilization. Russian President Vladimir Putin has framed his invasion as a “special military operation” as opposed to a full-scale war.
When Russia first launched its invasion on February 24, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared martial law and mobilized for war. His orders included barring male citizens between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving Ukraine.
In the wake of Ukraine’s gains in Kharkiv, Putin is now under pressure to escalate, and there are growing calls inside Russia for mobilization.
Mikhail Sheremet, a State Duma deputy from the ruling United Russia party, made the call on Monday. The following day, Gennady Zyuganov, the leader of Russia’s Communist Party, said Russia needed “maximum mobilization” to win a war he said was against the US and NATO.
Russia signaled a potential escalation in the war on Sunday when it launched strikes on Ukrainian electricity infrastructure. But so far, there are no signs of a mobilization.
Putin’s government has not said much about Ukraine’s gains in Kharkiv, and the Russian military says it’s focusing on fighting in the Donbas. The US is happy with Ukraine’s Kharkiv offensive, but officials have cautioned against celebrating the success too early.
What weapons would these troops be equipped with? The latest gear from North Korea, ie. a poor copy of a 70’s bit of Russian gear? The first rule of holes, when you find yourself in one stop digging
Are you talking about Ukrainian or Russian forces?
Ukraine has scored a Phyrric victory. Two weeks ago Russian allies, LPR militia has started withdrawal and civilians who wanted were ecacuating as well. Based on analysis by seasoned analysts, Ukraine paid dearly for this advance, Once they came out of fortifications in forests, they found themselves under artillery fire and lost over 3,000 people. They moved into vacated places. As the operation took about 12,000 people total, losses were great,
Whatever the gains, they are miniscule. But for an army that never gained territoty, this is big news.
But it is hard to see what weapins can do, when the available force has been steadily shrinking.
This is just a war with all its twists and turns.
Russia need not move any faster. The problem for Kiev to hold their leadership togather is growing. This is a serious issue, not easily papered over. And the always present divisions among populatiin are growing. It is hard to keep straight face when our medis keeps banging in about “Ukrainians”, pretending that they do not see a civil war slfeading from Donbas to other regions.
Hope it is clear that this will last for a while.
I have the sense that there is a race occurring to see which side can move its troops to the most critical areas the soonest. If Russia can dig in and reinforce its weak points, the celebrating about Kharkiv will fade quickly.
This is Bianca, Reporting from Kremlin MoD.
Do you have your report prepared for when Ukraine retakes Kherson? What is it going to be? 50% of Ukraine’s Army is lost and the land had no strategic value. Russia is regrouping again?
Funny, you of all people disparaging Bianca. Real funny.
Funny you are always disparaging me. Real Funny.
It’s your problem you are a closet Russia supporter.
I see the comments you like here. Shows which side you are on.
Even if he was, how is being a Russian supporter different than being a supporter of an installed neo-nazi regime that displaced a democracy? A regime that was killing it’s own people and banning freedoms, languages, political opposition and allows only State run media?
This is from Russia State TV. This guy has no filters.
Will definitely be found dead soon.
https://youtu.be/QrGJM8NvREk
Every action and reaction in this crisis only escalates the confrontation. Logically, full escalation is inevitable. Those who have the capacity to destroy the planet are not reading the history books.
https://patternofhistory.wordpress.com/
If we are stupid enough to give Ukraine the longer range missile, you can bet Russia will mobilize.
All of this is irrelevant to the outcome. Calls from Russian officials for “mobilization” are the result of people who don’t understand Russian operational art, as Martyanov says. Russia has no need to “mobilize” – they have more than enough standing soldiers in their peacetime army to defeat Ukraine. Indeed, they can defeat Ukraine with the limited forces they have committed so far. They could perhaps use a few score thousand more to “fill in the gaps”, but they can make do and have with what they’ve got. The only reason to enlarge their forces would be to make the naysayers shut up so the government doesn’t have to waste time dealing with people who don’t know what they’re talking about.
Bernhard recovers his wits (after initially falling for the “Kharkiv disaster” nonsense) and produces a more balanced report:
The Kharkov Counterattack – No Big Success – No Large Defeat
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/09/the-kharkov-counterattack-was-not-a-big-success.html