Russian President Vladimir Putin is under huge pressure because the armed forces of the federation want him to announce a new mobilization, writes WSJ .
The publication says that a few months before taking office in May 2024, Putin held a meeting with high-ranking representatives of the Russian military. They have insisted that Russia should announce a new round of mobilization in order to achieve the goals set on the front in Ukraine.
However, Putin refused. The Russian president wants to use only contract servicemen to replenish the troops and compensate for losses at the front. However, it is increasingly clear that if the Russian army does not significantly increase the number of soldiers sent to the front in Ukraine, it will not be able to achieve the goals set for the capitulation of Kiev.
Putin is now under intense pressure, as in nearly 1,000 days of war, the Russian armed forces have lost about 1 million people killed and wounded. The mobilization for Putin could have serious political consequences. At the same time, Russia is losing more soldiers on the battlefield than it can recruit to replace them.
Moscow's forces are currently insufficient to achieve the war's original objectives, including undermining its military potential. Mobilization seems inevitable.
During the first wave of mobilization in the Russian Federation, the authorities were faced with protests and the need to close borders in some regions. Although Russia has a population advantage over Ukraine, the lack of personnel remains a serious problem for them. During the large-scale mobilization in Russia, hundreds of thousands of men fled the country, some with their families.
According to various estimates, the Russian Federation is recruiting about 1,000 people a day into the army, while according to Britain, the occupiers are losing about 1,100 soldiers at the front every day. The Russian authorities are not announcing a new wave of mobilization for fear that this process will upset the “fragile balance” on how the war is perceived by the public - this could have dangerous political consequences for Putin.