Putin is apparently planning a mega-mobilization for the spring

Anastasia MamonovaEditor News

At the end of October, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the end of the partial mobilization. 300,000 men were accepted into the ranks of the Russian troops. Is that the end? Can the Russians breathe easy? Maybe not.

Russia expert Stefan Meister of the German Council for Foreign Relations believes that Putin’s goal is to “conscript more than a million men” and transform the country into a war economy. “I currently assume that in the spring, when the new soldiers are trained, Russia could launch a new offensive,” he told “Focus”. This would have serious consequences for the people of the country. Society should then “prepare for a longer war” and also expect “to mourn more victims.”

The Kremlin itself has for days denied the likelihood of a general mobilization. Putin’s press spokesman Dmitry Peskov, 55, said on Monday that there were “no discussions” in the Kremlin about the mobilization of a second wave of reservists. Meanwhile, the Kremlin-related portal Pravda reported that Putin plans to announce a second wave of mobilization before the end of the year. Peskow also denied that on Friday. He told Ria Novosti news agency that information about Putin’s mobilization speech was not true.

Public dissatisfaction is growing

The well-known Russian political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann (44) said a few days ago in an interview with “Ostoroschno Nowosti”: “If the mobilization has taken place out of military necessity, the number of mobilized should be increased again as the number decreases. If it is for political reasons people could now be left alone.”

Because popular discontent has increased since the announcement of partial mobilization. Not least because of the poor supply and training of the soldiers. “It is clear that a second wave of mobilization will be much more difficult organizationally and politically than the first,” Schulmann is convinced. “People already know where they are being sent and they know the fate of those who have been mobilized so far.”

Moreover, all those who wanted to go to war “out of conviction, out of naivety or out of financial self-interest” are already there. Schulmann describes the men who remained behind as “the most suspicious”. It would therefore be difficult to get hold of them and drag them to the recruiting office.

No money for those already mobilized

Not only the unwillingness of the people could thwart the potential plans of Vladimir Putin (70) for more cannon fodder. The problem is also organizational and material resources.

The independent Russian portal “Wjorstka”, citing sources in the State Duma and in the presidential administration, reports that a scenario of total mobilization was actually considered. However, the plan would hardly be feasible under the current circumstances, as there is a lack of money and capacity to supply the already mobilized Russians. “There are enough people anyway, but not enough guns, body armor, sleeping bags and vehicles,” says one of the sources.

Therefore, they are now in a hurry to “close the gaps” that have arisen in the preparation of basic necessities for the soldiers, as well as weapons and other equipment. At the same time, reforms in the recruitment offices are continuing. The next wave of mobilization could begin just after the turn of the year, when the fall RS is over.

But can public discontent still delay Putin’s decisions? Schulman thinks it’s possible. “We see that the Russian political system is eager to survive and not hit the wall. Although we also see such attempts.”

At the same time, she points out that even before the announcement of the first mobilization, the Kremlin could have assumed that the decision would not be well received by the population and that it would also be difficult to implement. Still, that didn’t stop Putin. A second mobilization is therefore not completely ruled out.