Russia prepares new mobilization

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 28 Mar 2023 by Alex Teddy

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Russia and the foreign media have reported since March 18 increasing signs of a call-up of military-aged men. In Udmurtia Region the Governor went on TV to convince people that no one will be conscripted but he asked men to volunteer ''to defend the Fatherland.'' In 2022 the conscription and the call-up of reservists upset public opinion. The government is likely to try to avoid that this time. Over 400,000 young men have stayed abroad since 2022 to avoid conscription. Russia's spring offensive is gaining little ground but sustaining serious casualties. In 42 of Russia's 85 regions call-up papers have been sent out. One pro-Kremlin media website said that the target is to recruit 400,000 men. The September/October 2022 call-up took in 300,000. Putin's spokesman said a new wave of conscription is out of the question. US analysts suspect that a major compulsory mobilization is imminent. Nowhere near enough men are volunteering. They think that Russia would prefer to do it gradually and region by region rather than suddenly and nationwide as in 2022. Moreover, the Russian Army does not have the logistics to cope with hundreds if thousands of men being drafted in the space of one month. For 20 years Russia has been upgrading its army. It tried to switch to a mostly volunteer army of highly trained troops but it has never ended conscription. Legally, conscripts cannot be forced to serve outside Russia. However, it emerged in 2022 that some conscripts were sent to Ukraine. Russia has declared 5 regions of Ukraine to be Russia. In July 2022 Russia started advertising for volunteers but had little success. High salaries were promised but in 2023 soldiers have reported being un...