Russia and Ukraine are both suffering heavy casualties in the war. The search for new soldiers becomes the core problem.
Moscow/Kiev – The Russian invasion of the Ukraine has become a war of attrition. Over a year after Wladimir Putin gave the order for the invasion, according to numerous reports, the losses of both warring parties are enormous. Russia is in a quandary when it comes to the supply of soldiers. But also Kyiv has an increasing mobilization problem.
For Putin, the situation is more complicated. As part of his “special military operation”, he announced in September 2022 after much hesitation that 300,000 conscripts would be sent to the Ukraine war to convene The result was the biggest protests Russia had seen in a long time. The Kremlin chief now faces a difficult decision, as the British Ministry of Defense analyzed in February. Instead of further unwelcome mobilization, the only option would be to continue using up the armed forces or further scale back the war aims.
Mobilization in the Ukraine war: High casualties become a problem for Putin
In view of Russia’s high losses, especially in the long battle for Bakhmut, this problem is only getting worse. Although Putin has there above all Wagner group fight for yourself. There, too, the large number of dead and injured fighters should pose a challenge since the head of the mercenary force, Yevgeny Prigozhin, stopped recruiting in Russian prisons. The recruits who now make up much of Putin’s fighting force are reportedly unprepared and poorly trained.
Actually, Kiev should have a clear advantage. Especially at the beginning of the Ukraine war, many locals volunteered to fight. Ukraine also received support from thousands of volunteers from abroad. Martial law, which was declared on the day of the invasion and, among other things, prohibited men of military age from leaving the country, hardly had to be applied. Now the situation appears to be different.
The Supreme Military Commissar of Ukraine, Yuriy Maksymov, confirmed that there is a need for additional personnel. Further mobilization is therefore necessary, he said in an October interview with the Ukrainian television station tsn. According to Maksymow, all conscripts under the age of 60 will soon have to reckon with a summons. Refusals face a prison sentence of up to five years.
Ukraine war: mobilization becomes a problem for Kiev too
This approach creates uncertainty among many Ukrainians. There are now Telegram channels that are used to give conscript men tips on how to avoid being recruited. How World reported, the Ukrainian secret service closed 26 such channels in a raid in early March and arrested the operators.
This crackdown by Ukraine in the face of dwindling willingness to fight stands alongside another strategy. For the eight assault brigades that for the long-awaited counter-offensive by Ukraine are, one continues to rely on voluntariness. However, the volunteers must be lured with a number of social benefits, such as the Ukrainian news portal Pravda writes.
So, in the end, Putin and Zelenskyy face a similar problem. Which country finds the better way to incite its inhabitants to fight is likely to determine the outcome of the war. However, the longer this lasts, the lower the motivation to participate in it. (vbu with dpa)
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