Kremlin Set to Mobilize Half a Million Citizens in Unwinnable Ukraine War
At this point the writing is on the wall, but Russian President Vladimir Putin simply can’t read it.
The former KGB agent-turned-dictator has put himself and his country in the unenviable position of invading Ukraine with no chance of success. His troops have been outsmarted and outgunned the entire time that they’ve been in-country, and each week brings another humiliating defeat to Putin and his cronies.
Now, in another desperate effort to try to turn the tide, teh Kremlin appears to be preparing to make a mass mobilization of citizen troops.
Ukrainian intelligence officials are warning that the Kremlin plans a new mobilization wave for up to 500,000 men to fight in Ukraine starting in mid-January.
The new conscription drive, which would be larger than last autumn’s Russian draft of 300,000, would include a push in big cities, including some strategic industrial centers in Russia, Andriy Cherniak, an official with the Main Military Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, told POLITICO on Saturday.
Putin has attempted to downplay the possibility in the past, but there has never been any really good reason for believing anything that he says.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in December said a suggested new conscription wave would be pointless as currently only 150,000 previously mobilized soldiers have been deployed in the invasion of Ukraine. The rest are still training or serving in the Russian rear.
Putin’s troops have been abjectly ineffective in Ukraine, with a vast number of soldiers having already surrendered or deserted their posts, while others continue to plan mutinies against their commanders and the Kremlin.
