The Number Of Troops Is Enough For War In Ukraine, Russia Is Not Planning To Mobilize

"Implementation of Russian military mobilization."

JAKARTA - Russia has no plans to mobilize additional personnel to go to war in Ukraine, as more than 335,000 people have registered this year to fight in the armed forces or voluntary units, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday.

Russia is known to have strengthened its armed forces and increased weapons production, in anticipation of a long-term war in Ukraine, where the frontline of fighting has barely changed for a year.

"There are no plans for additional mobilization," Defense Minister Shoigu told Russian generals.

"Armed forces have the number of military personnel needed to carry out special military operations," he said.

"Since the beginning of this year, more than 335,000 people have entered military service based on contracts and volunteer formations. In September alone, more than 50,000 residents signed contracts," he said.

These figures suggest Russia has made significant progress both in recruiting new members and in absorbing many fighters from Wagner mercenaries into "voluntary information".

Earlier, President Vladimir Putin ordered "partial mobilization" of 300,000 reserve troops in September last year, which caused hundreds of thousands of youths to leave Russia to avoid being sent to war.

After that, President Putin has repeatedly said there is no need to repeat the mobilization, which some Russian officials say is a mistake because it encourages so many people to leave their country.

Russia's massive invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sparked a war that has destroyed large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, killing or injuring hundreds of thousands of people, sparking the biggest divisions in Russia's relations with the West over six decades.

President Putin said he was fighting the Western alliance that waged a proxy war to weaken Russia politically and militarily. Meanwhile, Western leaders say economic sanctions and military support for Ukraine are a direct response to Moscow's aggression.

However, the direction of war in the future is still uncertain, although American officials expect Russia's defeat on the battlefield of Ukraine will break President Putin's arrogance.

The purpose of the war announced by both sides appears ambitious: Ukraine said it would expel all Russian troops from Ukraine, while Russia said it would demilitaryize Ukraine.

Mark Milley, who retired as Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN last month the war in Ukraine would last long, difficult and bloody because Russia had more than 200,000 troops in Ukraine.

"What I said a few months ago is, it will be a long, difficult and bloody fight because of the nature of this fight and the type of defense Russia is doing," General Milley said.

Milley said that Ukraine's goal of expelling all Russians out of Ukraine would "take a long time. It will be a very significant effort over a long period of time."