When Putin declares a rise in Russian military capability, the world must not be in a position to trust this regime.
On December 21, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin endorsed a proposal to increase the number of armed forces by more than 30%. He argued that Moscow needed to focus on and address the issues it had encountered during the war with Ukraine.
Shoigu proposed expanding the army to 1.5 million military
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu suggested expanding the armed forces to 1.5 million operational personnel from 1.15 million at a year-end summit of Russia’s highest military commanders.
At the meeting, broadcasted by the state TV propaganda, Shoigu informed Putin that this was necessary “to assure the settlement of problems relating to Russia’s military security.”
According to him, 695,000 of the military should be professionally hired soldiers rather than conscripts undertaking conscription-related military service.
In addition to drafting more than 300,000 reservists in a problematic mobilization push to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin just this summer issued a directive requiring soldier numbers to be expanded by 137,000 starting on January 1, 2023, to achieve the 1.15 million figure.
Russian leadership lies about Russia’s losses in Ukraine
According to Western military analysts, tens of thousands of Russian soldiers were killed in the ten months since Moscow invaded Ukraine. The last time an official figure was made public was on September 21. Shoigu stated that only 5,937 Russian soldiers had died in this war.
Shoigu has also called for raising the age range for mandatory Russian military service to cover all the citizens aged between 21 and 30.
While Shoigu and Putin have repeatedly stated that conscripts are not being sent to the front lines in Ukraine, the current system allows Russians between 18 and 27 to be called up for compulsory military duty.
Putin promises to provide the army with everything it needs
Putin declared his support for Shoigu’s ideas. The Kremlin dictator promised to provide the military with everything it needs to carry out a war approaching its tenth month, saying that the Russian army must learn from and correct the flaws it had in Ukraine.
He claimed that the amount of hardware and equipment the government would offer was unrestricted by money.
“There are no financial limitations”, he claimed everything the nation and the government were giving the army requests.
For the first time, Putin recognized that the 300,000 reservist call-up he ordered in September had not gone as planned.
As is well known to all, “the partial mobilization that was carried out showed certain flaws that should be swiftly rectified.”
Putin’s mobilization is criticized even by the Kremlin loyalists
Even Kremlin loyalists expressed strong opposition to the call-up after it came to light that military commissariats frequently enlisted troops who were physically unfit or too old and that recruits lacked essential supplies like sleeping bags and winter clothes.
In a string of recent remarks, it was the most recent in which Putin recognized, albeit subtly, the difficulties that the Russian invading forces are facing.
Putin says Russia can continue the war for a long time
And on December 7, Putin stated that Russia could continue the war in Ukraine for a long time.
Almost ten months after its February 24 invasion, Russia still controls a sizable portion of eastern and southern Ukraine along a front that spans over 1,100 km. Still, it has suffered a string of setbacks that have shifted the tide of the war in the direction of its less powerful foe.
Even pro-Kremlin war bloggers have voiced their anger and shock at the performance of Russia’s generals, the unorganized mobilization, and the surrendering of territory Russia had captured, most notably last month when it withdrew from Kherson, which many have viewed as Kremlin’s most significant defeat since the invasion’s start.
The Kremlin ruler doesn’t seek a peaceful solution to the war
In a report that Shoigu read to Putin, he said that Russian soldiers were intentionally destroying Ukraine’s military capabilities and that the West was attempting to “stretch out” the fight.
Putin has stated that he has no regrets about beginning what he refers to as his “special military operation,” asserting that Russia was forced to confront arrogant Western forces.
As we can see, the Kremlin dictator did not seek any peaceful resolution to the war he started. Instead of admitting that the invasion of Ukraine violated international law and the neighboring nation’s sovereignty, he vowed to up the number of war operations and military spending.
Thus, the Moscow regime cannot be trusted and should be excluded from all international organizations to the toughest isolation possible.
