Two million military reservists in Ukraine? Putin under pressure to mobilize new forces to bolster 700,000-strong army

Russia is preparing to mobilize around two million military reservists in Ukraine under new legislation. The changes to the rules could open up access to vast human resources at a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin is under pressure to mobilise new forces to renew and expand the 700,000-strong army fighting in Ukraine, writes The Telegraph, quoted by Focus.

The amendments to the law, which are expected to receive parliamentary support, will allow reservists to be called up in peacetime, and not only after an official declaration of war - after all, Moscow still calls its invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation“.

This would allow the Kremlin leader to avoid another hugely unpopular round of mobilisation, which he has so far refrained from after the partial mobilisation in September 2022, which led to a mass exodus of tens of thousands of men from the country.

The deputy chairman of the State Duma defence committee, Alexei Zhuravlev, said that the army from The two million reservists are comprised of "professionals in their field" who are currently not being used. Another amendment would allow these reservists to be used outside of Russia.

The chairman of the State Duma defense committee, Andrei Kartapolov, said Putin could direct the reservists to the northeastern regions of Ukraine - Sumy and Kharkiv, where Moscow is trying to advance.