Call Russia's Deterrence In Ukraine, British Intelligence: Less Trained

Russian mobilization protests. (Twitter/@ThomasVLinge)

JAKARTA - Russia's new recruiter in Ukraine is likely to face a high degree of friction, due to inadequate training, British military intelligence said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week announced plans to mobilize 300,000 troops for war in Ukraine in the country's first military service since World War Two.

Russia moved quickly to draw up reserves, issuing 'tens of thousands' of summons in the following days, the UK Ministry of Defense said.

"The initial wave of people called under partial Russian mobilization began arriving at military bases," the Defense Ministry said in a recent intelligence assessment.

"Russia will now face administrative and logistical challenges, to provide training for troops," the assessment continued.

Unlike most Western troops, the Russian military provides "low-level initial training to soldiers within designated operational units, rather than at special training venues," he said.

Usually one battalion in each brigade will remain in the garrison, if the other two are deployed and can provide an instructor to train each new member.

"However, Russia has deployed many of these third battalions to Ukraine," the Defense Ministry said.

"Many of the recruited troops will not have military experience for several years."

"The lack of military trainers, and Russia's rush to start mobilizing, suggest many of the recruited troops will be deployed to the front line with minimal relevant preparations. They tend to suffer a high degree of friction," the assessment said.

It is known, the mobilization announcement sparked demonstrations across Russia, with police detaining more than 730 people, including 300 in Moscow and about 150 in St Petersburg.

Protests against the draft took place in 32 cities, the OVD-Info rights group said.

Meanwhile, the new sentence has increased the sentence for desertion, refusal to fight and voluntary surrender, with a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.