President Vladimir Putin has ordered 134,500 more draftees to join his troops as Russia’s forces continue to struggle to make substantial gains in Ukraine.
The Russian dictator signed a decree ordering the new draftees into the military as part of Russia’s annual spring draft. Despite Moscow’s struggles, the defence ministry argued the call up had nothing to do with the conflict in Ukraine.
The order came five weeks into Russia’s invasion, which has run into fierce Ukrainian opposition that has imposed devastating casualties on Moscow’s troops.
As the decree was signed, Pro Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine declared they now control virtually all of the Lugansk region and more than half of the Donetsk region after Moscow made those territories its primary military goal.
The foreign ministry of the self-proclaimed republic said in a Telegrampost that more than 90 per cent of the Lugansk region had been freed. The head of the Donetsk separatists said 55 to 60 per cent of the area was under Russian control.
The declarations, which came after Russia said this week that it would deescalate its more attacks further west in Ukraine, couldn’t be independently confirmed.
Later, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Russian squads in Ukraine were not withdrawing but regrouping.
Jens Stoltenberg also said the alliance had yet to be convinced that Russia was negotiating in good faith in peace talks in Istanbul because Moscow’s military objective since launching its attack on Ukraine had not altered.
Speaking on Tuesday as Vladimir Putin signed the decree, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that none of the 134,500 call ups would be sent to any hot spots.
The issue of conscripts’ involvement in the fight was highly sensitive.
On March 9, the defence ministry admitted that some had been sent to Ukraine after Vladimir Putin had renounced this on various occasions, saying only experienced soldiers and officers had been sent in.
Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said at the time that the president had ordered military prosecutors to examine and redress the officials responsible for disregarding his instructions to exclude conscripts.
Vladimir Putin’s decree said that the annual spring military draft, which runs from April 1 to July 15, will impact Russian men between the ages of 18 and 27.
Shoigu said that those called up would start to be dispatched to their designated bases in late May.
The fact is that 134,500 young men, probably from impoverished families, with no links to the government will be sent to their death by weakling Vladimir Putin.
Vladimir Putin thinks that he’s a real leader, but he’s not sending his own family to their death. He’s willing to send children of others, husbands of others, fathers of others, brothers of others to their death, but yet Vladimir Putin is not to be seen anywhere.
I thought that Vladimir Putin wanted peace talks, but actually, all he wants is war because he’s a real warmonger, and these draftees will be used like Russian soldiers in World War II, and this is 134,500 more unsuspecting fools Vladimir Putin has duped.
Vladimir Putin doesn’t give a hoot about the law, and it appears that the Russians can’t do anything about it.
It seems that Vladimir Putin can enlist as many people as he wants, even if they are untrained and using decades-old equipment, it doesn’t make a shred of difference, and as bad as it sounds most of those people will be heading back to Russia in body bags. Who will he send in after that?
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 