Russian President Vladimir Putin supported the military leadershipʼs proposal to recruit 400 000 additional soldiers for the war in Ukraine by 2023.
This was reported by the newspaper The Washington Post (WP) with reference to the leak of secret documents of the American intelligence.
In mid-February, Russian President Vladimir Putin supported the militaryʼs proposal to "inconspicuously recruit" 400 000 additional servicemen during 2023.
There is also a plan of the Russian Ministry of Defense, supported by Putin, to recruit more than 415 thousand contractors in 2023. Russiaʼs immediate goal appears to be to recruit 415 000 contract soldiers, of which 300 000 will serve as reserves and 115 000 will form new units or replenish understaffed units.
According to another US intelligence document, to protect Putin from a backlash and divert any public discontent away from the Kremlin, mobilization plans include enlisting regional governors to organize recruitment drives and continuing to recruit people from prisons.
- According to Western intelligence estimates, Russia launched an invasion in February 2022 with about 150 000 troops. Last fall, more than 300,000 people were called up as a result of "partial mobilization", and another 50 000 are believed to be fighting in Ukraine as part of the PMC "Wagner". The number of men who were drafted into the "L/DPR" is also unknown. According to United States estimates, Russia lost between 189 500 and 223 000 troops, with up to 43 000 people killed.
- On April 26, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that Russia threw 369 000 people into the war against Ukraine.
- On March 29, the Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov announced that the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army will begin in the coming months, and Western equipment will take part in it. The Pentagon believes that the Defense Forces of Ukraine have a very good chance of a successful counteroffensive this spring — Ukraine has significantly exhausted the Russian forces, and Western weapons will help the Ukrainian army launch a counteroffensive. On April 24, the United States informed that it expects the Russians to launch an offensive in several areas of Ukraine.