MOSCOW: A reported Putin war escalation could bring 300,000 to 400,000 more Russians into the Ukraine conflict, The Economist said, citing sources close to the Kremlin.
The magazine reported that Putin appears to have chosen escalation after several weeks of deliberation this summer. However, Moscow has not announced a new mobilisation order.
The Economist said Putin fears ending the war without achieving what he considers minimum objectives, including control of the whole Donbas.
Putin had at some unspecified point told associates: “They will hang me.” The publication did not give the date, setting or wider context of the remark.
It therefore remains an account from an unnamed source rather than a publicly documented statement by Putin. The Economist said Russia could seek the additional manpower without announcing another nationwide mobilisation.
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The Economist’s report pointed to Putin’s September 2022 partial mobilisation decree and the role that regional governments could play in meeting recruitment demands.
The 2022 decree ordered regional leaders to meet call-up numbers and schedules set by Russia’s Defence Ministry. Putin later said that mobilisation had brought in 300,000 reservists and that the call-up had finished.
The Kremlin has publicly rejected recent claims that another mobilisation is being prepared. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov on August 25 called such reports “fabricated stories” aimed at destabilising Russia.
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Recent Western assessments nevertheless point to mounting manpower pressure. Western officials told The Guardian that Russian battlefield casualties were exceeding recruitment by about 6,000 personnel a month during the previous two months.
