Moscow may announce new mobilization due to lack of soldiers near Kursk

The growing shortage of soldiers for the war against Ukraine is prompting Russia to raise recruitment bonuses to avoid a repeat of the unpopular mobilization. However, so far there are few signs that this is working.

This was reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to Bloomberg.

According to three anonymous sources close to the Kremlin and the Russian Defense Ministry, the army is not receiving enough new soldiers to cope with losses on the front line, which have reached their highest level since the start of the invasion in February 2022. Regional officials are now, on average, failing to meet more than a third of their recruitment quotas.

According to two anonymous sources, the situation may force Russia to consider a new mobilization. Officials may envision it as a rotation measure for frontline troops, one of the people said, while the other said a draft could be announced as early as the end of this year.

Ukraine's stunning military incursion into Russia's western Kursk region, which met with no resistance, underscored the challenges facing the Kremlin. Ukrainian troops now control 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory, and offensive operations are continuing, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky told President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Russia has hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine, where it faces mounting casualties as fighting has largely reached a stalemate. The inability to repel the Ukrainian offensive and regain control of its border has exposed a lack of defense reserves.

Vladimir Putin ordered the mobilization of 300,000 people in September 2022, which caused a surge of war anxiety among Russians and up to a million people to flee the country. In an effort to avoid a repeat of that experience, the Kremlin has focused on appeals to patriotism and offers of money to try to secure the 30,000 new soldiers it needs each month just to fill the ranks.

Author - Dmitriy Levchenko, 14/08/2024