08 May / 2024
The Russian army lost in the war against Ukraine 90% of the personnel it had before the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This was reported by Reuters with reference to a declassified American intelligence report. Replenishing large-scale losses has become the main task of the Russian regime. Meanwhile, Putin, during the so-called “direct line,” said that there would be no next wave of mobilization in Russia, FREEDOM reports.
Russian Sergei Poletaev is forced to beg after he was wounded in Russia’s war against Ukraine and became disabled. Due to the fact that he does not receive payments, he has no money for food and medicine.
“I have nothing to pay for the apartment, neither for utilities nor for rent. There is no money for food,” complains Sergei Poletaev, a Russian military man.
There are thousands of such “heroes of the Northern Military District” in Russia. Some are left without payments, others are sent back to war straight from their medical beds.
“People don’t even want to go for money anymore. Therefore, paid voluntary mobilization is supported and reinforced by forced-voluntary mobilization. In general, an element of intimidation, harsh restrictive measures, and threats of criminal investigation are used,” said Russian opposition politician Gennady Gudkov.
Protests by the wives of the mobilized continue in the country. They demand the return of their husbands from the front. Women wear white scarves. They declared them a symbol of the mobilized relatives. But experts are confident that the relatives of those called up to war will not be able to reach the Kremlin. The authorities are already trying to take control of them.
“These protests can be used after the elections, when a new wave of mobilization is needed. They will say: “Look, our brothers have served their time, they have been fighting the enemy there for 2 years, their wives are crying, we need rotation.” Therefore, we are resorting to introducing a new wave of mobilization,” noted sociologist and publicist Igor Eidman.
During the so-called “direct line,” Putin said that there would be no second wave of mobilization in the country. I just forgot to say that the first one never stopped.
“I think Putin’s rating is falling and the level of support for the war is falling. Therefore, apparently, in the very near future they will go… If voluntary-compulsory is going on now, then I think that soon there will be forced-voluntary or even completely forced,” Gudkov said.
Former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul is confident that after the pseudo-elections in the federation there will be another wave of mobilization.
“I think that mobilization after the presidential elections is inevitable. The ranks of the Russian military are depleted, the losses are catastrophic. To maintain the status quo on the battlefield, he will have to send even more young Russian men to die in Ukraine. He has no choice if he wants to maintain his current position, and this measure will also be unpopular,” McFaul said.
According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian army has lost more than 340 thousand military personnel. And according to American intelligence information, more than 13 thousand Russian invaders were killed or wounded on the Avdiivka-Novopavlivka line alone.
