MOSCOW (HRNW) – President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that any further mobilisation would depend on what Russia wanted to achieve in the war in Ukraine, adding that he faced a question only he could answer – should Russia try to take Kyiv again?
More than 15 months since Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Russian and Ukrainian forces are still battling with artillery, tanks and drones along a 1,000-km (600-mile) front line, though well away from the capital Kyiv.
Putin last September announced what he said was a “partial mobilisation” of 300,000 reservists, triggering an exodus of at least as many Russian men who sought to dodge the draft by leaving for republics of the former Soviet Union.
Asked about another mobilisation at a meeting with 18 Russian war correspondents and bloggers in the Kremlin, Putin said: “There is no such need today.”
Russia’s paramount leader, though, was less than definitive, saying it depended on what Moscow wanted to achieve and pointing out that some public figures thought Russia needed to get 1 million or 2 million extra men mobilised.
“It depends on what we want,” Putin said.