Putin explained that an increase in manpower was necessary “to defend the motherland” and “its sovereignty and territorial integrity”. In the Kremlin’s mind, and as amplified in Russian propaganda, it’s the defence of the just-recently-annexed Ukrainian regions that needed heightened capability. The leadership has not explained the mobilization as necessary to reverse its continued battleground failures, which they have denied.
Other countries have experienced sizable arrivals of designated classes of men for military duty. Georgia is now witnessing some 10,000 daily and Armenia has admitted over 40,000 escaping the draft.
In spite of the Kremlin’s insistence that the new draftees will not be deployed outside of Russian borders, that they will be fairly paid and that their jobs will remain until they return, the sheer numbers are embarrassingly high.
The Russian military itself has betrayed its own claim of draftees staying within Russia. It has admitted that the specialties designated for reservists to fill are exactly those it identified as needed on the front lines – tankers, gunners, drivers, etc.
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