Uk says Russian recruitment campaign in Ukraine war unlikely to have an impact

• According to the UK Ministry of Defence, it is unlikely that Russia’s proposal to enlarge its armed forces will have any bearing on the conflict in Ukraine.
• Vladimir Putin has signed a directive to potentially add 137,000 more soldiers to the Russian armed forces, bringing the total to above 1.15 million.
• But the MoD claimed that in part because of continued losses, the boost was unlikely to strengthen Russia’s combat capacity.

According to the UK Ministry of Defence, it is unlikely that Russia’s proposal to enlarge its armed forces will have any bearing on the conflict in Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin has signed a directive to potentially add 137,000 more soldiers to the Russian armed forces, bringing the total to above 1.15 million.

But the MoD claimed that in part because of continued losses, the boost was unlikely to strengthen Russia’s combat capacity.

Putin’s order was issued as the military was actively recruiting new members.

According to accounts, recruiters have even gone to prisons and made financial and freedom promises to convicts.

Russia is currently limited to slightly over a million military people and almost 900,000 civilian employees.

The UK ministry stated in one of its regular reports on the conflict that it was unclear whether the intended increase would be achieved by raising conscription or by recruiting more volunteers.

However, given the following, any rise was unlikely to have an effect in Ukraine:

• Russia has lost tens of thousands of troops,
• Very few new contract (i.e. non-conscript) servicemen are being recruited
• Conscripts are not technically obliged to serve outside Russian territory, the MoD said.
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According to Western estimates, between 70 and 80,000 soldiers have died or been injured since Russia invaded Ukraine six months ago.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, it intended to conduct a swift, conclusive assault. However, Ukrainian resistance has slowed Russia’s advance, and in recent weeks, the front lines have made little headway.

Russian men between the ages of 18 and 27 are currently required to serve in the military, however many are able to escape or shorten their obligations—typically by one year—through medical exemptions or by enrolling in higher education.

Over the past 24 hours, Ukraine has accused Russian forces of once again shelling the grounds of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station. Moscow, however, counters that the factory has been shelled by Ukrainian forces.

Petro Kotin of Enerhoatom, the plant’s Ukrainian operator, has issued a warning that radiation may be released locally if missiles strike the spent fuel kept next to the reactors.

Enerhoatom said on Telegram that “the infrastructure of the station has been destroyed as a result of periodic shelling, there are dangers of hydrogen leakage and sputtering of radioactive materials, and the fire hazard is significant.”

On Saturday, the Russian defence ministry said it had destroyed a sizable weapons storage facility in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region that contained M777 Howitzer shells and US-made Himars rocket systems.

Additionally, according to press reports, the Russian air force damaged six missile and artillery weapons stockpiles in the Donetsk, Mykolaiv, and Kherson districts in addition to shooting down a MiG-29 aircraft in the eastern Donetsk region.

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