Russia says 335,000 people signed up to fight; there are no plans for new mobilization. As more than 335,000 men have already signed up to serve in the military services or volunteer units this year, Russia has no plans to mobilize more troops to fight in Ukraine, according to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Since the front lines in the conflict in Ukraine have not moved over the past year, Russia has been boosting its military and increasing weapon manufacturing in preparation for a protracted conflict.

Shoigu was shown admonishing senior generals on official television, saying, “There are no plans for an additional mobilization.” The amount of military men required to carry out the special military operation is present in the armed forces. President Vladimir Putin’s ally Shoigu praised the participants’ patriotism.

More than 335,000 people have enlisted in the military on contract or in voluntary formations since the year began, according to Shoigu. “More than 50,000 citizens signed contracts in September alone.” According to those numbers, Russia has made tremendous strides in recruiting new members and incorporating numerous Wagner mercenary force combatants into “voluntary formations.”

In September of last year, Putin ordered the “partial mobilization” of 300,000 reservists, which led to the departure of thousands of young men who wanted to escape being conscripted into the military.

Putin has stated time and time again that the mobilization, which some Russian officials claim was a mistake because it caused so many people to flee, does not need to be repeated.

WAR LONG?

A conflict that has ravaged large portions of eastern and southern Ukraine, killed or maimed hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and caused the largest rift in Russia’s relations with the West in sixty years was set off by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

While Western officials claim that their economic sanctions and support for Ukraine directly respond to Moscow’s actions, Putin claims he is battling a Western alliance waging a proxy war to weaken Russia militarily and politically.

However, the future of the conflict remains unknown, despite earlier this year’s warnings by U.S. officials that Putin’s arrogance would be exposed by Russia’s loss on the battlefields of Ukraine. Last year, Ukraine was able to retake land from Russia through strikes that made the Russian military seem bad, but this year has been different.

According to the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School, Russia occupied 31 square miles in the month leading up to September 26, while Ukraine occupied 16 square miles. Both sides’ proclaimed war objectives seem ambitious: Russia claims it will demilitarize Ukraine, while Ukraine claims it will expel every last Russian soldier from the country.

The United States’ chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Military, Mark Milley, who resigned last month, predicted on CNN that the conflict would be brutal and drawn out since Russia has more than 200,000 soldiers in Ukraine.

It will be violent and drawn out because of the character of this specific battle and the Russians’ defense strategy, Milley predicted months ago. Milley said the Ukrainian goal of expelling all Russians would “take a long time. That will require a lot of work over a long period.

“I can assure you that it will take some time to physically remove all 200,000 or more Russian troops from Russian-occupied Ukraine. That sets a very high standard. It will take a while to complete,” Milley remarked.

Putin is relying on Western apathy toward the conflict even though the Kremlin anticipates that the United States will continue to provide Ukraine with security aid worth tens of billions of dollars.

A spokesperson for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, stated on Monday, “We have indicated repeatedly that according to our projections, exhaustion from this conflict, fatigue from the ludicrous support of the Kyiv government, will increase in numerous nations, including the United States.