Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announced partial mobilisation will cause more deaths for the Russian army and could start riots within the country, admits former Latvian National Armed Forces commander and Latvian ambassador to Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan Juris Maklakovs.
Announcement of mobilisation, according to him, was expected because, considering the situation on the front and the successes gained by Ukraine, the shortage of reserves for the Russian army is very high.
«Considering the limited amount of time before winter, these unprepared people will be sent to the front. Units will not be composed, there will be more deaths. I am convinced there is also a shortage of munitions and other war resources. More soldiers will fall because [Russia] will try to secure successes before winter. This could cause riots and protests in Russia despite already adopted penalties for avoidance of military service,» said Maklakovs.
While until now troops were taken from far-away regions, where poverty is high, the mobilisation will cover all regions [of the Russian Federation].
People will be unhappy with this. There are also reports of people fleeing to Kazakhstan, Armenia and EU member states. Maklakovs said that an acquaintance of his told him that all flight tickets from Moscow to Istanbul are already sold out.
«This does not mean anything good for Russia. This indicates that Ukraine is gaining ground and Russia is trying to recover its positions,» said the former NBS commander.
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Maklakovs has ten years of experience serving in the Soviet army. According to him, not much has changed with mobilisation system in Russia since then.
«Rush to find reservists with experience in the right fields in which Russian army has a shortage of specialists, such as tank crew. However, they won’t go through collective training,» said the expert.
As previously reported, Russia has announced partial mobilisation. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, only citizens in reserve will be mobilised.
Before being sent to the front, mobilised troops will undergo additional military training, said Putin.