Things in Russia No Longer Normal

Before mobilization, Russians far from the border of Ukraine could rest assured that things were basically normal for them and their families. The professional soldiers were fighting in a land far away, and despite the local McDonald’s closing for a bit, things were stable. Mobilization has, however, brought the war home for many Russians. Christina Lu reports in Foreign Policy:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been packing Russia’s front lines with demoralized men with little to no military training and scant gear as he scrambles to sustain his military campaign amid mounting battlefield casualties.

But mobilizing 300,000 new forces has proven to be difficult, especially after hundreds of thousands of people have already fled the country to escape conscription. Those who remain have been snatched from offices, cafes, and even homeless shelters as authorities struggle to fill the ranks, the Washington Post reported.

Internally, Putin’s unpopular conscription campaign has fueled growing frustration and opposition. With mobilization, “Putin has now brought the war into the homes of many more Russian families,” Andrea Kendall-Taylor, director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, told FP’s Ravi Agrawal in an interview. 

“Up until this point, he’s tried to portray the war and things inside Russia as normal,” she added. “He’s tried to protect the politically important Russians, but mobilization has blown that apart.”

Since soldiers are insufficiently prepared for war and poorly equipped—with even Putin admitting that some of the new forces are only trained for 10 days—being sent off to fight in the war is often seen as a death sentence.