What does Vladimir Putin’s partial mobilization mean for 300,000 young Russian soldiers? How is it processed? And what is the military value to Russia of the budding combatants who have long established a foothold in civilian life? Military strategist Colonel Bernhard Gruber of the Austrian Armed Forces answered these questions on Wednesday.
Russia invaded Ukraine with 150,000 troops – now 300,000 reservists will follow, who will be called up by force. “It will take time,” Gruber is sure, as such a large partial mobilization is a very complex process. “Probably not all 300,000 men will be called at once, that would overload the system.”
“It takes months”
After a brief medical examination, the training of the commanded reservists would begin, some of whom had been in the military for a long time. “You have to make a distinction here: if I train a hunter group, it is done in one to two months. If I need a tank crew, it takes longer. And if I want to turn an entire association into a fighting community, it takes months. Here we are in the middle of winter.” Gruber sees a problem in the trainers: “For the most part, presence units are deployed and fight in the Ukraine. Or have already fallen.”
Difficult selection when drafted
And the mobilization also brings with it a whole rat’s tail of domestic political issues: from which regions are the convoys called? Who can be liberated? How badly does the industry suffer from the loss of the labor force that is actually needed to build the war economy? Are women filling this gap, as in World War II? “Normally in peacetime there is a very complex plan behind such a call,” Gruber explains. “Otherwise chaos ensues.”
Gruber also differentiates on the basis of the goals pursued by Russia: “If Putin wants to advance the conquest of the Donbas, he needs offensive, mechanized units. Putting them back up, training them and getting them to the front takes much longer than sending infantrymen to defend themselves in the trenches.” Possibly with a sheer mass of soldiers, the Russians are having a hard time.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
