The remains of a Russian tank in the Ukraine. Picture: Freepix
Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly ordered the country’s military to increase troop strength amid reports he wants to end the war in Ukraine by 2026.
The British and Ukrainian governments estimate Russia suffered more than 600,000 casualties since the 2022 invasion.
After a call-up of 300,000 reservists in the face of a Ukrainian counteroffensive in autumn 2022, Russian authorities filled their ranks in Ukraine with volunteer soldiers, attracted by high wages.
ABC News reports that many commentators had noted that the Kremlin had been reluctant to call more reservists, fearing a repeat of the domestic destabilisation in 2022 when hundreds of thousands fled Russia to avoid combat duty.
The shortage of military personnel is widely cited as a key reason behind the success of Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region launched on August 6.
The Kremlin has sought to avoid the redeployment of troops from eastern Ukraine and relied on reinforcements from other areas to stem the Ukrainian incursion, ABC reported.
The recruitment drive comes as Ukraine braces for an expected escalation of hostilities in 2025 with an intelligence chief predicting Russia wants to wind up the war by 2026.
Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, said that Russia would face a worsening economic and social climate by mid-2025, along with increasing difficulty recruiting troops, media reports said.
US defence thinktank Institute for the Study of War said Russia would likely become increasingly reliant on foreign partners.
In its September 15 assessment, it said Russia relied on refurbishing stocks of Soviet-era weapons and equipment, particularly armoured vehicles, in Ukraine.
The Russian defence ministry on Monday also claimed to have reclaimed control of two more villages in the Kursk region annexed by Ukrainian forces.
