US military experts: Putin faces "scary task" - chaos after "partial mobilization"

Created: 09/27/2022, 11:35 am

By: Franziska Schwarz

Since the chaotic recruitment, the Russians have been "terrified and panicky," observes the American ISW ​​-- and Putin's attempts to get the mood under control are already failing.

WASHINGTON

The Kremlin will have trouble calming the outraged populace.

Since the partial mobilization in the Ukraine war announced by ruler Vladimir Putin, numerous reservists have fled Russia.

The government can no longer downplay the chaos surrounding Russian recruitment.

This is the assessment of the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in an analysis on Monday (September 26).

The US think tank based in Washington writes that the argument of “failing bureaucracy” does not appeal to the population.

"The errors are just too numerous to blame on individuals, and Russians can see that clearly," the military experts write.

War in Ukraine: Russian resistance against Putin is growing – without any state television or social media

So far it has looked different with the Russian losses in the fighting in Ukraine, but things are different here now: "The breaches of the rules in the partial mobilization are spreading in Russia through oral stories, and people don't need traditional or social media for that (.. .) the affected families in numerous places describe their fear and pain even without them.”

The anger erupted violently at least once: In Siberia, a man in a Russian conscription office shot around himself.

Picture from September 26: Vladimir Putin in Sochi © Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin Pool/Imago

Ukraine war: Russian criticism of Putin - moderator on state television reacts

The ISW also said that Russian state television responded to the protests primarily by blaming allegedly unmotivated and careless recruiters.

An unnamed TV presenter had publicly threatened them directly if they did not fulfill their duties.

In addition, media outlets close to the Kremlin increasingly published personal accounts of incidents in which these “unsuitable” employees were fired as a result.

This is intended to give the impression that the Russian government will solve the problems with partial mobilization as quickly as possible as soon as they are identified.

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US military experts: "Putin faces a daunting task"

The ISW estimates that the Kremlin's planned annexation of the occupied territories in Ukraine will be attempted "shortly before or after October 1."

The Kremlin faces "the daunting task of both placating the Russian population and mobilizing enough people for the Russian invasion of Ukraine."

The attempt by Putin's circle to calm the "frightened and panicked" population by blaming the authorities for "mistakes" in the campaign is a communication "that is unlikely to solve the Kremlin's current problems," he said Conclusion of the ISW military experts.