The leadership of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation continues to call on the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to announce a new wave of mobilization.
Points of attention
- The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation continues to call on Putin to announce a new mobilization to replenish the military ranks.
- The pressure to announce a new wave of mobilization is growing due to heavy losses in the war against Ukraine, which could upset public opinion about military action.
- Putin is increasing the staff size of the Russian army by 180,000 servicemen due to the need to replenish the military forces.
- The Kremlin's fear of possible political risks in the event of the announcement of a new mobilization indicates the complexity of the situation in the Russian military department.
Why can Putin announce a new wave of mobilization
As noted, at the beginning of 2024, the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, led by Sergei Shoigu, offered Putin a mobilization before his next "inauguration", but he rejected this proposal, insisting on involving only volunteers who sign contracts.
In July, Putin tried to increase the size of the army by increasing the one-time payment to new recruits to 400,000 rubles (about $4,300).
Now, according to the WSJ, the new leadership of the Ministry of Defense under the leadership of Belousov again faces the problem of a lack of personnel, due to which Russia cannot organize a large-scale counteroffensive in the Kursk region.
More and more people are talking about the inevitability of mobilization, - noted one of the publication's sources.
The Wall Street Journal also points out that the pressure to announce a new wave of mobilization is increasing because of casualties in the war with Ukraine, which are estimated to have reached about a million people.
Russia's problems are becoming more and more serious. After capturing the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, Russia turned to young and inexperienced conscripts and transferred troops from other areas of the front in Ukraine to defend its own territory, the WSJ reports.
At the same time, the Kremlin fears that another mobilization could influence public opinion about the war and create political risks for Putin.
Putin increased the size of the Russian army by 180,000 soldiers
On September 16, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed a decree increasing the number of servicemen in the Russian Armed Forces by 180,000.
Putin also instructed the government to allocate the necessary budget funds to the Ministry of Defense for the implementation of the relevant decree.
Thus, Putin increased the size of the army by 180,000 troops.
In December 2023, Putin also increased the size of the Russian army, bringing the number of servicemen to 1.32 million. Before a full-scale Russian invasion began in 2022, the Russian armed forces barely exceeded 1 million.
