According to the American newspaper, the Russian president had already encouraged then-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to issue an order for mobilization in early 2024. Putin rejected the proposal, insisting that only volunteers with military contracts should continue to serve in the armed forces. In July, the head of state also realized that action would be necessary, at which point he tried to increase wages: A one-time doubling of the salary for conscripts to 400,000 rubles, equivalent to about 4,300 US dollars.
However, the shortage of personnel remains a persistent problem, so the Defense Ministry is now encouraging Putin to take a more radical step than before: mobilizing the system.
According to Wall Street Journal news sources, Russia cannot launch a counterattack on Kursk because it does not have enough power to do so. At the same time, the fact that Moscow is constantly suffering heavy losses in Ukraine also causes serious problems.
Russia’s problems have become more acute. With Moscow’s forces heavily involved in the capture of the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, Russia has resorted to young, inexperienced conscripts and pulled troops from other parts of the Ukrainian front line to defend Russian territory.
– The American newspaper writes. While in the political leadership, he fears that the order to mobilize will lead to serious discontent in the country and a decline in the popularity of the elite. In order to avoid this, they are trying to postpone such a step as long as possible.
Cover image is an illustration. Cover image source: Getty Images
