The Looming Double Failure of Putin’s Mobilization

Andrew Donaldson

Born and raised in West Virginia, Andrew has since lived and traveled around the world several times over. Though frequently writing about politics out of a sense of duty and love of country, most of the time he would prefer discussions on history, culture, occasionally nerding on aviation, and his amateur foodie tendencies. He can usually be found misspelling/misusing words on Twitter @four4thefire and his food writing website Yonder and Home. Andrew is the host of Heard Tell podcast. Subscribe to Andrew's Heard Tell SubStack for free here:

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15 Responses

  1. Chip Daniels says:

    I’m thinking of Stellen Skarsgard’s line to Jared Harris in Chernobyl: “You humiliated a regime which exists to not be humiliated!”Report

  2. InMD says:

    I think we should be careful about too much wishful projection into the psyche of the Russian people. We shouldn’t kid ourselves that the average Russian in the street sees the world the way the West does. At the same time it’s hard to see how the government spins this positively. My guess is that the Russian state may be in the process of learning what we did in Vietnam- that being that you can’t do wars of choice like this in the modern world with conscripts. The expectation is that it’s handled by professionals.
    Any backlash is less about the sovereignty of the Ukrainian state or anger at the ideology and closer to the fear and confusion one would feel at being asked to do some really dangerous job without any qualifications.Report

  3. Jaybird says:

    The US got rid of the draft for a bunch of reasons… how to put this nicely…

    Some of the reasons were based in deonology. Some were based on a crude utilitarian calculus.

    Putin is likely to learn things that the US learned back in the 70’s. As will the Russians in general. And, God help us, the Ukrainians are going to learn some of those things too.Report

  4. Dark Matter says:

    If the reports are correct; Russia recruits are expected to bring their own medical supplies and their own winter gear. They’re being dropped off at the front line without food or shelter.

    The idea that the Russian winter will be harder on the Ukraine and the West looks questionable.

    Putin seems to be looking to WW2’s Stalin for inspiration. Russia lost 15% of it’s population during that one. So yes, the actual plan is to send in lots of cannon fodder until they win.

    Presumably the way this works in practice is whites in Moscow will get deferments and ethnic minorities will not. Witness protesters being sent off to the front lines.

    Ideally Putin’s political opponents (or non-supporters) get sent off to die and he’s better off for it.Report