Vladimir Putin’s Russian debut in his Ukraine invasion has been a raging mess from the very beginning. He initially lost so many troops (including purposefully self-injured soldiers) that the only way to continue was by calling up a draft of 300,000 reservists. This then led to Putin heavily recruiting from prisons, and some of those Russians who protested the war found themselves receiving draft papers as well.
This attempt by Putin to replenish his fallen troops also led to a mass exodus of able-bodied men leaving Russia, and the whole private-army thing is also going fairly horribly, considering that the Wagner Group leader became Coup Guy, and Putin just kinda sat there during the mutiny. Newsweek now reports that there’s been such a resistance to being drafted that harsher new fines are being instituted for those Russians who won’t fight. This also suggests that another massive draft could be coming:
Previously, Russians failing to present themselves at a military registration office after being summoned could face fines of between 500 rubles ($5) and 3,000 rubles. The new legislation will increase that to a flat fine of 30,000 rubles, with higher fines of 400,000 to 500,000 rubles, and 60,000 to 80,000 rubles, for legal entities and Russian government officials, respectively, for failing to submit military registration lists to recruiters.
Newsweek notes that the Kremlin insists that they are trying to avoid a second enormous draft, since it will have further detrimental effects upon the Russian economy. Still, one can probably expect it to happen at some point, since recruiters are going to desperate new measures as time goes forth. Putin could always, you know, call it a day in Ukraine, but admitting defeat does not appear to be in his repertoire.
(Via Newsweek)