As the War in Ukraine Goes Unfavorably for Russia, Putin Orders a New Draft

Due to difficulties and roadblocks in capturing Kyiv, the Kremlin is ordering 135,000 more Russian men and women to be drafted–an exceptionally high number.

From The Hill:

The government published a decree by Putin on Monday that stated 134,650 Russians who are not already in the military or reserves will be drafted, state media outlet TASS reported.

The draft will run from April 1 to July 15 and choose from men ages 18 to 27, according to the document.

The move comes more than a month into Russia’s attack on Ukraine, a war many believed Russia would win in days.

There are western and Ukrainian reports which indicate that Putin is unaware of how poorly the Russian military is performing in Ukraine, and of how poorly the economy in Russia is doing. However, given today’s economic play by Putin, the latter seems unlikely and casts doubts on the prior.

Putin seems well aware of his country’s stress under sanctions. It’s therefore reasonable to believe that he knows of how poorly his military is reportedly performing as well, and that that has triggered this draft.

In either case, we are going into April with a war which started in February–a war which the whole world expected to be over in days. Russia is tiring, and it is likely that more desperate measures will be taken soon to end the war quickly, especially with a May 9th victory day already promised.