Russia's recruitment is getting wilder - Putin may even be bypassing the military leadership

Created: 2022-09-20 05:06

By: Kathrin Reikowski

According to the ISW, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin is increasingly controlling the military himself.

© Sergei Bobylev/Pool Sputnik Kremlin/AP/dpa

Despite recent defeats, Russia is relying on inexperienced troops in the Ukraine war, according to an assessment from the USA.

Putin could be behind it.

WASHINGTON DC (USA) - What are Vladimir Putin's tactics following Ukraine's recent military successes?

The British secret service only published reports on the Ukraine war at the weekend, according to which Russia was preparing for a tactic of attrition.

On Monday morning (September 19), the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) from the USA published detailed assessments of Russia's recruitment measures.

It relies, among other things, on Russian military bloggers as sources.

ISW (USA): Putin ignores the military leadership and decides for himself

In its assessment, the ISW assumes that Russian President Putin is increasingly ignoring military decision-making processes and is instructing new strategies himself.

Putin's bad relationship with the military leadership is one of the reasons why more and more volunteer and poorly trained soldiers are being recruited instead of well-trained soldiers.

According to some sources, prison inmates, security forces and men from the currently conquered areas in Donetsk and Luhansk are also coming into military service, according to criticism from former army officers.

All this would lead to further confusion and uncoordinated operations: the men recruited from Ukraine have no will to fight, and the use of prison inmates makes the use of violence, especially against women, more likely.

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Since the defeat in Kharkiv, Putin wants to decide more for himself - possible victory in the Cherson region for Ukraine

The fact that Putin is bypassing the military leadership has been the case since the summer and was reinforced by the defeat in the Kharkiv region.

And although the Ukrainian troops in the Kherson region, on which Ukrainian advances seem to be currently concentrated, are better trained and equipped, Russia is also experiencing great losses here.

Here, too, the paper foresees a possible victory for Ukraine, as the Ukrainian military has managed to cut off important supply routes.

“Ukraine may continue to make slow progress if Russian troops can keep their good organization.

But it could also accelerate significantly if the Russian armed forces break up,” according to the ISW.