On August 19, Ukrainian forces continued to make modest advances in the Kursk region amid ongoing fighting throughout the Ukrainian stronghold in the area.
The commander of the Chechen Spetsnaz "Akhmat" Apti Alaudinov worsened the situation, which the Kremlin has been extremely wary of in the past, by calling on conscripts to take part in the fighting in the Kursk region and dismissing the concerns of conscripts' relatives.
This is stated in the daily analysis of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Family members of Russian conscripts have recently complained about the involvement of Russian conscripts in Russian border security operations.
The Kremlin is very concerned about the public response to conscript matters, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has already taken steps to assuage the grievances of conscripts' relatives.
The continued presence of Russian conscripts in border areas during the Ukrainian invasion threatens the Kremlin with a potential political crisis over casualties among Russian conscripts. Alaudinov acts as the spokesman for the Russian defense in the Kursk region, and the Russian news agency TASS has repeatedly circulated his statements since the Ukrainian invasion.
The open appeals of Alaudinov - a widely promoted Russian authority - to the conscripts' relatives to stop complaining, to the conscripts - to participate in combat operations in the border zone of Russia and to Russian citizens - to accept the victims among the conscripts and other military personnel, could exacerbate tensions in Russian society and potentially threaten the stability of Putin's regime.
The head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, has made only limited public statements about the Ukrainian invasion of Kursk Oblast, although Alaudinov and Spetsnaz "Akhmat" have a distinct role in the Russian response.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Azerbaijan on August 18, possibly in an attempt to shift attention away from Ukraine's incursion into Kursk Oblast and present himself as a consistently effective diplomat.
The Kremlin's response to Ukraine's incursion into Kursk Oblast underscored how the Kremlin's domestic priorities have increasingly turned to regime stability, especially over the past year.
On August 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree further codifying Russia's vague state ideology into Russian law without specifically changing the Russian constitution.
Putin's efforts to codify a particular ideology may be intended to counter the Russian ultranationalist community's own efforts to create an accepted national ideology.
Local media in Sakhalin Oblast Sakhalin Media reported on August 19 that the border service of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in Sakhalin Oblast and other federal entities in Russia's Far East, North West and North Caucasus Federal Districts resumed conscription for the first time from unspecified "long" period of time.
Russian officials continued attempts to falsely portray Ukraine as responsible for the lack of talks to end the war.
Russian forces have recently advanced near Kupyansk, Svatovo, Pokrovsk and Vukhledar.