A. Guruliov assured that so far the Russian Ministry of Defense has been able to meet personnel needs for the war with Ukraine by using contract soldiers.
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“There is also a second point. Well, okay, we will mobilize a million people with you. Freely? Freely. Our resources there – almost up to 30 million. And what next? They need to be clothed, shod, trained, given equipment, weapons, and so on, and so forth. Is the industry ready for this today?” asked the retired lieutenant general.
A. Guruliov emphasized that “war is not only the front line but also the state of the country’s economy.”
In the past month, the Russian State Duma has spoken for the fourth time about reports of a new mobilization being prepared, according to “The Moscow Times.”
On July 24, Defense Committee member Andrey Kolesnik stated that there is “no talk” of a new mass forced conscription, as the ranks of contract soldiers are already being replenished. On July 27, a similar statement was made by the same committee’s head Andrey Kartapolov, and the next day by his colleague, retired lieutenant general Viktor Sobolev.
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Medvedev also expressed his opinion
The topic of mobilization was also raised by Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council. On July 28, he called similar reports “nonsense” (i.e., nonsense, empty rumors), noting that supposedly Russia’s “enemies” are trying to destabilize the situation and provoke the growth of negative sentiments in the country. At the same time, D. Medvedev admitted that the pace of recruiting contract soldiers for the war is declining.
According to “Viorstkos” sources, the Russian authorities may introduce martial law and announce mobilization after the State Duma elections in September. European officials have also not ruled out mobilization in Russia, citing heavy losses of Vladimir Putin’s army on the front, which, according to CSIS estimates, reached 1.4 million people by July.
Of the approximately 300,000 people mobilized in 2022, only just over half – about 168,000 – remained on the front by the beginning of this year, calculated Janis Kliuge, an expert at the German Institute for International Security Issues, based on federal budget data.
A source close to the Russian Ministry of Defense told the “Financial Times” that a new mobilization risks turning into heavy losses and desertion, and the subsequent “political effect” “could be very negative” from the perspective of the country’s internal situation.
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