Three years of reporting, funded by our readers — become a member now and help us prepare for 2025.
Goal: 1,000 new members for our birthday. Gift a membership to your friend and help us prepare for what 2025 might bring.
Become a member Gift membership
Skip to content
Edit post

UK Defense Ministry: Russia 'highly unlikely' to call up 400,000 volunteers, may force men to join army

by The Kyiv Independent news desk March 30, 2023 11:52 AM 2 min read
This audio is created with AI assistance

Russia will "highly unlikely" manage to attract 400,000 volunteer professional soldiers, which it claimed to be the goal of its new recruitment campaign, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on March 30.

The ministry called it "realistic" that the distinction between a call for volunteer, professional personnel as it's presented by Moscow and a new mandatory mobilization will be blurred with regional authorities trying to fulfill their recruitment tasks "by coercing men to join up."

Russia's Defense Ministry will start a new recruitment campaign on April 1, aiming to conclude contracts with 400,000 professional soldiers, the Russian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on March 15.

According to the RFE/RL, residents of Russia's Voronezh Oblast started to receive summonses to military enlistment offices as it was in September last year following the so-called partial mobilization announced by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. This may indicate that a second wave of conscription for the war against Ukraine could begin.

"Russian authorities have likely selected a supposedly 'volunteer model' to meet their personnel shortfall in order to minimize domestic dissent," the U.K. Defense Ministry wrote in its latest intelligence update.

However, restoring Russia's combat power in Ukraine will require not only personnel, according to the update. "Russia needs more munitions and military equipment supplies than it currently has available."

On March 29, Bloomberg also reported Russia's intentions to increase its army by 400,000 troops, citing people familiar with the plan. According to the publication, Moscow managed to conscript more than half a million people in 2022.

In late October 2022, Putin and Russia's Defense Minister Shoigu claimed that the mobilization for the war against Ukraine had finished, but the decree on "partial mobilization" remained in force.

According to reports by Ukraine's General Staff and the Institute for the Study of War, the Kremlin had continued mobilization covertly. Estonia's intelligence chief Margo Grosberg said that mobilization in Russia had never actually stopped.

Wallace: More than 220,000 casualties on Russian side
Over 220,000 Russian troops have been killed or injured since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News, citing U.S. intelligence.
Three years of reporting, funded by our readers.
Millions read the Kyiv Independent, but only one in 10,000 readers makes a financial contribution. Thanks to our community we've been able to keep our reporting free and accessible to everyone. For our third birthday, we're looking for 1,000 new members to help fund our mission and to help us prepare for what 2025 might bring.
Three years. Millions of readers. All thanks to 12,000 supporters.
It’s thanks to readers like you that we can celebrate another birthday this November. We’re looking for another 1,000 members to help fund our mission, keep our journalism accessible for all, and prepare for whatever 2025 might bring. Consider gifting a membership today or help us spread the word.
Help us get 1,000 new members!
Become a member Gift membership
visa masterCard americanExpress

News Feed

3:44 PM

Russian ICBM strike would be 'clear escalation,' EU says.

"While we're assessing the full facts, it's obvious that such (an) attack would mark yet another clear escalation from the side of (Russian President Vladimir Putin," EU foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano said, according to AFP.
1:40 PM

Merkel describes Trump as 'fascinated by Putin' in her memoir.

"(Donald Trump) saw everything from the point of view of a property developer, which is what he was before he came into politics. Every plot of land could only be sold once, and if he didn't get it, someone else would," Angela Merkel says in her memoir.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.