ISW: Russian forces struggle with outdated equipment, personnel shortages as another round of mobilization looms

The Institute for the Study of War reports that Russia keeps experiencing equipment shortages and difficulties in providing for the mobilized troops. The experts wrote that a prominent Russian military blogger contended that Russian forces should use World War II-era artillery and cheap, inferior-quality military equipment to address challenges in providing for Russian soldiers. The blogger alleged that both Russia and NATO states are experiencing weapons shortages and presented cheap, simple, and old equipment of perceived lower quality as a way to “quickly and cheaply saturate the troops.”

Amid equipment shortages, some media reported on what might be a second wave of mobilization. The experts cited Russian news sources which reported on official actions "indicative of a probable second wave of mobilization for which the Russian military system is highly unprepared." On Nov. 27, a military registration and enlistment office for the city of Kirov, located some 896 kilometers northeast of Moscow, issued subpoenas for employees of an unspecified local business to “clarify military credentials” before the start of 2023.

"Russian force generation structures have not recovered from the last mobilization, and the Russian military-industrial complex remains stretched, so Russian force generation infrastructure is unlikely to be able to accommodate another mobilization wave this rapidly," the ISW found.