Russian President Putin is trying by all means to increase his troops. After recruiting campaigns in prisons, he is now looking for new ways to recruit soldiers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is apparently launching a new attempt to recruit additional soldiers for his war of aggression once morest Ukraine. Recruitment is said to be on a voluntary basis – but in questionable locations, according to an update from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Accordingly, a Moscow psychiatrist is currently calling on men who are at risk of suicide to report for military service. It wouldn’t be the first time that Putin has recruited military volunteers from among the mentally ill. According to media reports, a psychiatric clinic in Saint Petersburg last year called on its patients to join volunteer battalions.
Russian region recruits orphans
On Monday, the Russian Far East region of Amur addressed orphaned young people: Anyone who took part in the war would be given an apartment, they said. “Among the orphans, priority is currently being given to those people who are or have been participating in the special military operation,” said the region’s social affairs minister, Natalia Kiselyova, according to a press release from the region’s administration. Read more regarding it here.
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According to the ISW, calls to join the units of the Wagner mercenary group are now increasing, especially in ultra-nationalist social networks in Russia. In the past, the head of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is said to have recruited his fighters in prisons. Here you can read more regarding it.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials are reporting cases in which Russian occupation officials registered teenage boys born in 2006 for military service in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk.
Recruitment campaigns on Telegram and in mobile tents
According to reports from the Ukrainian General Staff, the military recruitment centers in the occupied Donetsk region are once more receiving instructions to check the identity documents of reserve officers under the age of 65 and soldiers, non-commissioned officers and sergeants under the age of 50.
In several Russian Telegram channels, the ISW also observes how often it is advertised to join existing volunteer battalions. In addition, Russian officials have set up mobile recruitment centers in some places to promote volunteer military service.
Parallels to summer 2022
In measures like these, the ISW sees clear parallels to recruitment campaigns that were already aimed at volunteers between the end of May 2022 and September 2022. Here, too, there were mobile recruitment centers and recruitment calls via Telegram.
At that time, however, the campaigns were largely unsuccessful. As a result, Putin ordered the first partial mobilization throughout Russia in September 2022 – this also affected reservists who did not want to volunteer.
worry regarding stability
According to the ISW, the renewed appeal by volunteers now indicates that the Kremlin does not have enough reserves left to continue its offensive following the Battle of Bakhmut. In the city in eastern Ukraine, Russian Wagner mercenaries and the Ukrainian military have been fighting a bitter battle for months; a victory there is an important symbol for both sides. Read more regarding the latest military developments at the front here.
Putin, on the other hand, wants to avoid forced conscription because he is concerned regarding the stability of his regime. The partial mobilization in the fall had already led to resistance from the Russian population. According to the ISW, Putin therefore hopes that the recruitment of volunteers will be sufficient.
However, citing Russian veterans and military bloggers, the ISW states that Russia cannot achieve its goals without large-scale mobilization. It is therefore assumed that the Kremlin will not start another wave of mobilization until summer 2023 at the earliest.
The Wagner troupe plays an important role in the Ukraine war. In Bakhmut, among other places, the fighters of chief Yevgeny Prigozhin are deployed. So that he still has enough people, he is now breaking new ground in recruiting.
As the US Institute for the Study of War writes, the focus is on sports clubs. At least three new recruitment centers were opened between Thursday and Saturday. And at important sports locations.
Wagner wants to recruit additional fighters for the Russian Boxing Association in Tyumen, West Siberia. The same is true of the Antares sports club in Rostov in southern Russia and Dinamo Samara in the Volga region.
In addition, according to Russian media, a youth club of the Wagner troupe was founded in Saint Petersburg. The club is said to be called Wagnernyok. According to the reports, young people are to be motivated with patriotic events for the military special operation.
According to the ISW, the reason for the new openings may be the recent halt to the recruitment of prisoners. As early as February, Prigozhin said they had stopped accepting prisoners into the troops.
This week, the Wagner boss hinted that the Kremlin itself has banned him from this type of recruitment. The government around Vladimir Putin is also said to have sabotaged the supply of ammunition to the Prigozhin fighters.
Russia has reportedly recruited over 50,000 prisoners for the Ukraine war. Numerous convicted criminals were lured into the army with the prospect of release, among other things.
Vladimir Putin delivered a state of the nation address on Tuesday. In doing so, he swept under the rug a missile test that took place near Biden’s visit. As the US broadcaster “CNN” reports, citing two anonymous sources, the test failed on Monday.
Russia had informed the United States in advance regarding the planned test of a missile known in the West as “Satan II”. The Sarmat missile is an ICBM capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads.
In the past, successful tests were proudly communicated by Vladimir Putin, as in April 2022. Not so this time. The USA therefore assumes that the test of the mega missile was unsuccessful.
Instead, Putin spoke in his speech regarding suspending the “New Start” disarmament treaty with the United States. “New Start” is the only remaining major arms control agreement between the United States and Russia. It limits the nuclear arsenals of both countries to 800 delivery systems and 1,550 operational warheads each. Up to 18 verification visits may be held per year.
After the speech, however, he backtracked a bit: The maximum limit for delivery systems and warheads would still be adhered to.
The United States had been planning their president’s brief visit for months and only informed the Russians regarding the forthcoming visit shortly beforehand.
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