Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want to end the war against Ukraine and expresses readiness to continue hostilities for at least another two years. This is stated in a publication by the Russian publication "Verstka", which refers to a source close to one of the European intelligence services, Focus writes.
Speaking about the new wave of mobilization in Russia, he described it as one of the "hypothetical strict measures".
Putin, according to the journalists' source, "does not want to end the war and is ready to fight for another two or three years".
"There are concerns about instability — "in the event of a cessation of hostilities now, in this state, without serious successes," the source notes.
Therefore, "strict measures, mobilization and a war economy" are being considered.
"The military supposedly guarantees him (Putin) full control over four Ukrainian regions on condition that he has human resources", the publication quotes.
Another source of the journalists, identified as a person responsible for issues related to the recruitment of contract soldiers in one of the Russian state corporations, gave details of a possible mobilization. He claims that preparatory measures "for something that will never be called mobilization" have already been ongoing "for several months". In doing so, he said, they are trying to account for "the mistakes of the 2022 mobilization".
He also stated that "from October onwards" the military of the Russian army of the Russian Federation will be ready to accept tens of thousands of people for training at the training grounds. And, according to him, such groups "will be distributed among the active troops".
At the same time, he could not answer the question of whether the decision on a new recruitment into the armed forces was final, noting that "our task is to prepare".
On April 10, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, during a conversation with journalists, stated that the blocking of the Telegram messenger in Russia may be related to the preparation for the adoption of unpopular decisions by the Kremlin. This, in particular, is either the end of the war, or, on the contrary, an escalation and intensification of mobilization.
On April 19, President Zelensky announced that Russia needed a large-scale mobilization in order to try to repeat the offensive against Ukraine or conduct a parallel offensive with fewer combat forces.
At the same time, he could not answer the question of whether the decision to re-conscript the armed forces was final, noting that "our task is to prepare".