Russia plans to increase troop numbers in Ukraine, signaling intensification of war
22 March 2024 19:09
The Russian Ministry of Defence wants to send an additional 300,000 soldiers to Ukraine. The Kremlin plans to begin the siege of Kharkiv, reports the independent Russian service "Wiorstka".
Another independent service, "Meduza", references the reports by "Wiorstka". According to journalists, "Russian authorities will focus primarily on mobilizing reservists". The Kremlin, however, wants to exert pressure on conscripts, especially those whose service is coming to an end. Such soldiers are to sign contracts.
Media report that preparations to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people have already begun. In the capital, defence companies and state-funded organizations began issuing employees certificates exempting them from mobilization, and military recruitment offices called back lawyers and psychologists who were involved in the mobilization in the autumn of 2022.
Officials are supposed to emphasize that it is about a typical spring draft, but according to independent journalists, it's about a "mobilization 2.0".
War, not a special operation
"Meduza" recalls that, according to independent observers, Vladimir Putin might decide on another mobilization after the presidential elections. Officially, the Kremlin does not have such plans, although a few days after the voting, the spokesperson for the President, Dmitry Peskov, said in an interview with the governmental agency TASS that "Russia is at war with Ukraine".
Peskov added that the "special military operation" turned into a war when the "collective West" became "its participant on the side of Ukraine". Up until now, Russian authorities have referred to the war in Ukraine as a "special military operation".
He also stated that part of Russian territories is "de facto occupied" by Ukraine. - We have got four new entities of the Federation (Russian). And the most important for us is to secure people in these entities and liberate the territory of these entities, which at this moment is de facto occupied by the Kyiv regime - assessed the spokesperson for the dictator Vladimir Putin. This refers to Ukrainian regions that Russia illegally annexed in 2022.
Vladimir Putin warned the West on Monday that a direct armed conflict between Russia and NATO would mean humanity is one step away from World War III. He added that almost nobody would want such a scenario.
