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President Putin has announced a partial mobilization in Russia

197 points by _V_ 4y ago

_V_ 4y ago
(CNBC) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced a partial military mobilization in Russia, putting the country's people and economy on a wartime footing as Moscow's invasion of Ukraine continues. In a rare pre-recorded televised announcement, Putin said the West "wants to destroy our country" and claimed the West had tried to "turn Ukraine's people into cannon fodder," in comments translated by Reuters, repeating earlier claims in which he has blamed Western nations for starting a proxy war with Russia. Putin said "mobilization events" would begin Wednesday without providing further details, aside from saying that he had ordered an increase in funding to boost Russia's weapons production, having committed (and lost) a large amount of weaponry during the conflict, which began in late February.
Jenny_Wengerd 4y ago
- MezzoDelCammin 4y ago
  new account (created 6d ago) and this is the first submission?
  - dekken_ 4y ago
    second
    - _V_ 4y ago
      aaaa, the green color is new-ish account? Nice! I was wondering about that for a while now :-D Not to actually google yet it but still :-)
      - leshenka 4y ago
        omg holy shit HN still uses <font> tags
        detritus 4y ago
        Just wait 'til you see all the nested tables!
sam_lowry_ 4y ago
Partial... impartial... There is no such thing as "partial mobilization". There is a law on mobilization, but who cares about laws there days in Russia. The main objective of this mobilization is to call up to 5mln conscripts in the army. This morning, people already started to receive summons in person.
- JoachimS 4y ago
  It is a bit like the "balanced stance", what does a balanced stance on an invasion even mean? https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2022/sep/15/putin-thanks-xi-for-chinas-balanced-stance-on-ukraine-invasion-video https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2022/sep/15/putin-th...
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- apexalpha 4y ago
  >There is no such thing as "partial mobilization". What do you mean by this? If you have 2 million men available in a full mobilization but call up only 300.000 this seems partial?
  - makeitdouble 4y ago
    To push to the extreme, you'd have to mobilize every single Russian to have a "full" mobilization. So anything short of that is a "partial" mobilization, which would be basically be any actual mobilization.
    - WastingMyTime89 4y ago
      A full mobilisation would imply mobilising all the people who can be mobilised not every single Russian. That’s not what’s happening here hence the partial.
      - 4y ago
scanny 4y ago
It’s hard to see where this ends; should things move toward weakening of the Russian government will he go without attempting to escalate his way out of domestic danger? I think mobilisation and moving toward declaring the special operation a war (more mobilisation) could be the beginnings of that slippery slope.
- newaccount2021 4y ago
  Putin is "committed" so to speak, so this is just following his current strategy through to its conclusion: force the West to give up on Ukraine or accept massive escalation. The fundamental question is - is NATO committed enough to the Ukraine cause to demolish Europe? Probably not. Everyone talking about Russia being "already defeated" knows little of the Russian capacity for misery. Napoleon learned the hard way. The Russians also accepted losses in WW1 and the following civil war that would have destroyed most other societies (and indirectly destroyed Russia too), and of course, they continued fighting in WW2 when most democratic societies would have surrendered. Do not underestimate Russia. Compare losses in the Brusilov Offensive alone to all-time combat losses for most other nations (including the US)...Russians will keep fighting long after it seems sensible. Eventually Biden and Blinken will back away from Ukraine...the US public will find another Current Thing to obsess over, and US troop commitments are completely out of the question. Basically, Russia gets Ukraine eventually, its just a matter of how bad the carnage is
  - rcxdude 4y ago
    Russia needs to not do the same: its plays so far have assumed that the US and Europe are not willing to sacrifice anything to help Ukraine, which has turned out to be false. It also remains to be seen whether Russians ability to suffer terrible conditions translates to effectiveness in an offensive war (especially worth considering that Ukraine's most recent offensive resulted in a rout of some of Russia's most elite soldiers). With the US specifically, it has a capability of sustaining an unpopular war where american soldiers are dying for a suprisingly long time. This is a war where no US soldiers are dying and there's is both tremendous popular and political support for continuing to support Ukraine from both sides of the political spectrum (which is getting very rare. Yes there are some voices spouting Russian propaganda but they seem to have little sway).
tclover 4y ago
- LargoLasskhyfv 4y ago
  Relax. Spontaneous combustion ends all frustration. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, gone with the wind...
durnygbur 4y ago
With individual EU countries being perfectly egoistic and pragmatist, with Germans being in the pockets of Russian oligarchs, this situation overall is heading into catastrophic direction.
- deleted 4y ago
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- BurningPenguin 4y ago
  Dude, we don't get any gas anymore from them, the oligarchs are on sanctions lists and one of those oligarchs is currently getting raided by the police for tax evasion. More are probably going to follow.
- WastingMyTime89 4y ago
  I personally blame Russia war mongering, the USA brain dead diplomacy of the past twenty-five years and their constant meddling in European affairs for their own advantage. But to each their own I guess.
TheWoodsy 4y ago
Their main propaganda news channel has already said (incorrectly) that they are already fighting NATO and US troops in the breakaway areas. Is it time to make this a reality? I really don't see it ending without it happening. russia has shown that it has no regard for the suffering of any troops of any nationality. So purely from a population perspective, Ukraine will fail eventually unless they can effectively force-multiply like we've never seen in any other armed conflict.
- yrgulation 4y ago
  Nein. Germany will block it. See, its very convenient to have a weak east europe.
  - durnygbur 4y ago
    Their automotive industry and demography are on catastrophic crossroads, ~100 mln of people and the land between Germany and Russia are just such convenient resources.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - yrgulation 4y ago
      Their automotive industry depends on east europe, and is a massive source of pollution and clocked cars. Some countries tried banning old german cars but obviously the eu “threatened” them with “sanctions”. So its not just the resources they are after but also their pockets and health. Just here on this forum you can see many express disdain at east europeans, more than any other group of people, instead of acting like actual allies. Perhaps poland’s idea of germany paying its debt to east europe is not such a bad idea and should be taken care of in full force once this war is over.
      - eternalban 4y ago
        It is interesting how neither the Russians nor the West delves on to what extent this whole affair is about Germany, and the role Germany played in all this. Even now, the official narratives involving Germany focus on foot dragging on arming, stuff like that, whereas the actual geopolitical story is so much more 'interesting'. Btw, history calls with a rude interruption to remind that the Germans were also the first to give the Yugoslavian civil war a nice big push to get it going. https://apnews.com/article/f07f4162e6bb20a7039c69d10e526a62 https://apnews.com/article/f07f4162e6bb20a7039c69d10e526a62 p.s. EU (Germany+France) + Russia + China as foundational to next layer BRI + BRICS, countering "Anglo-Saxon" Empire of Waters. This is what the war is actually about. Take out the Schnaps and get Schroeder and Merkle drunk and they will tell you all about it. :-) [preemptive p.s.s. Yes, of course, but that's why NS2 had to be stopped.]
yodsanklai 4y ago
Stupid question, but what does Putin want exactly? what will end the war?
- mjfl 4y ago
  Putin wants to secure Crimea, which is where a large part of the Russian navy is and their only connection to the Mediterranean.
  - _visgean 4y ago
    > their only connection to the Mediterranean. If you look at the map russia has quite a few other cities with direct access to black sea. e.g. Rosnov, Sochi, Novorosijsk...
    - mjfl 4y ago
      touche. I guess I'm stupid. But Sevastopol is important.
      - _ph_ 4y ago
        It was important. As the Ukraine already attacked targets there, recently Russia moved their submarine base from Sevastopol to some mainland harbor. That means, effectively this harbor has been lost to Russia as a consequence of the war. Never mind that the Bosporus is closed for military vessels.
        _visgean 4y ago
        Yeah i think that would be here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Novorossiysk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Novorossiysk
        deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
        mjfl 4y ago
globalise83 4y ago
Personally I believe that NATO should occupy the whole of Western Ukraine up to about 100km from the frontline, with a clear warning that any direct fire on NATO troops will result in retaliation. This will free up the Ukrainians to fight Russia on the frontline without worries about Belarus etc.
- rozab 4y ago
  do you know what occupy means
  - hoseja 4y ago
    Be present somewhere. What you're thinking of is a derived meaning, because usually the presence is facilitated by use of force.
  - shusaku 4y ago
    I swear some people think real wars work just like risk and all you have to do is stuck your soldiers on a country tile to improve their defense.
    - baskire 4y ago
    - timbit42 4y ago
      Took me a bit to realize you are talking about Risk.
nindalf 4y ago
Putin's approval rating since the war began has been a steady 80%+ (https://www.statista.com/statistics/896181/putin-approval-rating-russia/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/896181/putin-approval-ra...). We don't know yet what September's numbers will look like, but it will likely take a hit from the retreats and losses of territory to the Ukrainians this month. Mobilization is going to drop that further. People are ok supporting a war in the abstract, but less so if they have to go out there and fight themselves. And they'll like it even less when they find that people with connections aren't being called up. Calling for mobilization now gives them a few months to train and get equipped when winter brings fighting to a close. It'd be interesting to see where Russia finds officers for these new troops. Or maybe training/equipment/officers don't matter, if the plan is to use them as cannon fodder. Regardless, Ukraine will find it harder to make progress next year like they've done in the last few weeks. There won't be any fronts that are thinly manned and easy to punch through like Kharkiv was.
- ClumsyPilot 4y ago
  > Putin's approval rating since the war began has been a steady 80%+ (https://www.statista.com/statistics/896181/putin-approval-ra https://www.statista.com/statistics/896181/putin-approval-ra...). These numbers are meaningless. Approval could be 5% and you wouldn't know, amd average russian wouldn't know. Its difficult for a western mindset to understand the mentality. In Russia no-one trusts that a rating agency is independant or real or has nothing to do with the government. They will always reply that they support any official policy, even if the policy is anal probing. Many have gone to jail for 15 years for voicing dissent. Prisons with widespread torture https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-introduce-jail-terms-spreading-fake-information-about-army-2022-03-04/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-introduce-jail-t... I am hoping that mobilisation will cause some sort of social unrest. You don't know what everyone else is thinking, it's like the opposite of manufacturing concent
- sereja 4y ago
  The mobilization only includes people who formerly served in the military (at least 1-2 years of training). A certain percentage of them are "reservists" who work normal jobs but are summoned for a month-long military training every year to be ready in the case of war, and so they will probably be prioritized (at least according to Putin & Shoigu). This is not cannon fodder. Russia is running out of willing soldiers, not soldiers in general.
MasterYoda 4y ago
I really hope the russian/kreml/putin war against Ukraine will end in a epic failure for them. I also hope that frozen russian assets in west can be confiscated to build up Ukraine again, russia has to be accountable and pay for all madness and horrific things they have done.
- softwareoiu 4y ago
- 88840-8855 4y ago
  Oh yeah, super good idea. We had fantastic experience with humiliated nations before. It worked so well for Germany after WW1 /s FACT: the end of this war must be positive for the Russian people, no matter whether Russia loses or wins the military operation. Putin came to power because the West didnt help the former Soviet republics. If Russia is left alone humiliated again then we will have the next anti-western system in 10 years.
  - te_chris 4y ago
    That’s not a fact. It’s up to Russians and Russia what happens after this.
  - dandanua 4y ago
    Yes, it's Ukraine must give up everything and pay reparations for russians - so they don't feel humiliated because of who they are. /s
  - elurg 4y ago
  - DennisP 4y ago
    The worst that will happen to Russia is that they get pushed all the way out of the country they invaded, and maybe lose various assets they have in other foreign countries. Nobody's foolish enough to try to make Russia flat-out surrender, like Germany in WWI. Caution is certainly warranted but it doesn't seem productive to reward Russia for invading another country.
shusaku 4y ago
It seems like every piece of news about this war gets buried in an avalanche of “beware propaganda and misinformation” caveats. But I suppose at this point it is safe to say this has gone quite poorly for Russia so far.
skc 4y ago
Is there any scenario from this point onwards, any at all that results in Russia coming out stronger once the smoke clears? Because I can't see any. Seems to me like the Russian govt are now in a situation where they have no choice but to see this thing through just to try and save face.
- Mesopropithecus 4y ago
  Mobilization could be a sign that it's no longer about face but about ass.
  - kjeetgill 4y ago
    What does this mean?
    - stnikolauswagne 4y ago
      I presume its about what to „save“ as in „saving face“, i.e. keeping your reputation intact vs. „Saving ass“, i.e. staying alive/in power. Keeping up the facade of this being a „special military operation“ left alive the excuse of „we are not really trying all that hard to win this“ whereas (partial) mobilization more signlas towards „this is going south lets do whatever works to end this“
      - timbit42 4y ago
        Are they going to try to blame this failure on the soldiers?
- ajvs 4y ago
  Well they're still not having the energy crisis and inflation of the West, so at this rate it seems likely they'll maintain this win.
  - oneoff786 4y ago
    Inflation in Russia is significantly worse
thinkingemote 4y ago
Will the winter and the frozen ground give advantages to Russia? When is this likely to happen? I heard that the February invasion was too late and that the thaw was beginning, hampering access.
- leshenka 4y ago
  Winter means you need winter outfit and that was a problem in February. No idea if it still is.
- oneoff786 4y ago
  Given their piss poor logistics and supplies, it seems very unlikely that they will be prepared for a winter invasion. Those men will freeze to death.
- paganel 4y ago
  According to Shoigu (their minister of Defence) they'll use the conscripted men in order to secure the existing front-line, which is quite long. Couple that with the incoming referendums during which the regions that now Russia controls in Southern and Eastern Ukraine will vote for an annexation to Russia, which makes me doubtful that the Russian Army will try and make a push further North across the Dnieper or even towards Mykolaiv or Odessa. Not sure though what will happen with the part of Donetsk region that they do no presently control, i.e. to cities like Kramatorsk and Slavyansk. As such, I don't think that the ground being frozen or not will have such a big effect going forward. Of course, I might be wrong on all this and the Russians launching a new offensive on Kiev and Kharkov.
  - lrdd 4y ago
    Kyiv and Kharkiv I think it is more correct to use Ukrainian names for Ukrainian cities over Russian.
    - paganel 4y ago
      Kiev and Kharkov is what we use in Romanian (spelled in a slightly different manner, but pronounced the same), I think I can manage this. Were I to speak or write in Ukrainian (which is a language I don't know, for the time being) I would have used the Ukrainian spelling.
willsmith72 4y ago
This is really going to screw Russia for generations. Every young Russian I know has either already left, plans to leave, or has to stay but hates their leader. You don't get your country to turn into a superpower by losing the most educated and skilled of the young generations. I only hope as things get more desperate he doesn't feel trapped lash out with the nukes.
- withinboredom 4y ago
  - egeozcan 4y ago
    That's nothing like the scale of migration happening from countries like Russia and Turkey. Turkey's lifeline for work-force has been the incoming migration from the east (as it's the bridge to Europe), I don't know how Russia can survive that.
  - dan-robertson 4y ago
    I think it’s just extremely untrue that the US is experiencing anything like the Russian brain drain (or indeed any net brain drain at all). The US does have a bunch of problems (eg the poorest people live terribly for such a rich country; political issues around polarisation, skilled immigration, etc) but I think they are basically insignificant when compared to Russia’s.
    - deleted 4y ago
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    - stiltzkin 4y ago
      I disagree insignificant due to how the U.S. treated South American in the past, and there are more examples how extreme U.S. can be.
      - dan-robertson 4y ago
        I don’t know what you’re saying? Are you saying that the US treated South American[s?] poorly in the past therefore they are experiencing brain drain[1] which is significant compared to the brain drain Russia is experiencing? I think that’s patently false but I can’t work out how else to parse your sentence. [1] Note that, on net, the US is experiencing ‘brain accumulation’ (especially in science/tech) not brain drain, despite the slightly broken immigration system.
LatteLazy 4y ago
It's really concerning how many people here are calling for a war between nuclear states...
- rightbyte 4y ago
  There is this Reddit meme pretending nukes does not exist.
- nickpp 4y ago
  It’s really concerning how many people here would cave to nuclear blackmail. Which part of your own country would you be willing to give up to the nuclear power so it doesn’t launch its nukes for now?
albertopv 4y ago
Russia has no military capabilities to feed and transport so many soldiers, let alone train them, officers are already in Ukraine and probably already dead. It's basically cannon fodder.
- sofixa 4y ago
  > It's basically cannon fodder. Yep, same as Luhansk and Donetsk "volunteers", with WWI vintage rifles and 1960s tanks. This hasn't worked since WWI, or even before (the humiliations against China) so I'm curious how they see this playing out.
bjourne 4y ago
Can someone Russian explain what on earth they are thinking? Russia appears to have 10x the casualties as Ukraine, soldiers that doesn't really want to fight, and are currently losing. Yet the leaders think it is a good idea to keep the war going? To me it seems that with the material Ukraine is receiving from the West they will easily retake all territory Russia has occupied.
- rcMgD2BwE72F 4y ago
  >Russia appears to have 10x the casualties as Ukraine Reliable source? That isn't what I read anywhere from not-so-partial sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Russo-Ukrainian_War#2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Russo-Ukrain...
  - leshenka 4y ago
    Officials say there are close to 6k dead. Mobilization wants 300k recruits. This doesn't add up at all. Not sure about 10x casualties as Ukraine, but I'm sure it's 10x of what they're saying
    - AlfeG 4y ago
      Recruiting 300k and number of dead soldiers are not always correlate. It's amount of land to control and amount of soldiers required is in correlation. RF seems underestimate amount of soldiers need to control and protect land, they dropped lot of land and reduced length border to protect.
  - Markoff 4y ago
    I like how Russian forces have various estimates, but for Ukrainian forces we take Ukraine data for granted, while the truth is both countries are highly likely downplaying their losses, same as both of their dictators are same corrupted thieves as proven in Pandora Papers last year when they were appearing together in all articles. Can't believe someone believes any data coming from these 3rd world countries.
ClumsyPilot 4y ago
All flights out of Russia are now booked out with millions of people trying to escape mobilisation. If the Western leaders had any foresight, they would come up with a scheme that enables them to do so and drains Putin's manpower. Anything from rebuilding Ukraine to getting them a free ticket to Brazil. Unfortunately, as demonstrated by dependancy on Russian gas, western leaders have the foresight of a frog. The recent visa restrictions only help government propaganda that the West hates the russian people so you must fight. Also braindead decisions like language test centers banning Russians so now you can't get a test to apply for a job or visa.
- vegardx 4y ago
  The people that could realistically move from Russia already have. Just because all flights are fully booked doens't mean millions are willing to or able to move. And what gas? Currently Russia is exporting a negligible amount of gas to western countries. They played that card a long time ago. It's almost comical to talk about foresight and Russia in the same sentence without even acknowledging how blind Putin has had to have been to even have considered starting this mess.
  - ClumsyPilot 4y ago
    > It's almost comical to talk about foresight and Russia in the same sentence I don't think our benchmark for foresight should be an aging dictator thats probably loosing his mind. > The people that could realistically move from Russia already have. What is the basis for this assertion? You could say 'we don't want them here', at least it would be honest. But let's not pretend they had every opportunity to leave and simply chose not to. Most people can't leave because they have no long-term visas to anywhere. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled to Georgia because it's one of the very few countries that allow visa-free entry. Many are illegally overstaying, because there is nothing else they can do. For the top 5% of Russians that have knowledge of English, the legal chops,the income and the grounds to get a western visas, embassies take many months to process your documents, have quotas and limited processing capacity. And they reduced their staff levels since the 'special operation' started. You can even be refused visa to donate an organ to your family https://www.ieyenews.com/uk-leukaemia-transplant-blocked-by-home-office-visa-denial/ https://www.ieyenews.com/uk-leukaemia-transplant-blocked-by-... Suppose you are an upper class Russian that has savings, earned every penny honestly and wants to leave to Britain. What can you do? Well maybe you get yourself an excellent job that sponsors your visa, suppose you have 300k+ of salary and all the time in the world. But can you bring with your dumb brother? No, you will have to leave him behing, watch him get drafted and killed. Can you bring your aging mother with arthritis that needs regular help just to get through the day? No, you cannot. What are you meant to do, leave them behind to die?
kirso 4y ago
Despite the sad news this thread reads like all technologists of HN suddenly became military professionals and strategists whilst utilising the bubble sort strategy to call out for nuclear war, full scale conflict or just territorial gains. I mean nothing is as simple as it seems...
diimdeep 4y ago
It is usually recommended here to read information from sources, here: Address by the President of the Russian Federation (English transcript) [1] (video in Russian, no subs)[2] [1] http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69390 http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69390 [2] http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69390 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69390
- zppln 4y ago
  Excerpts clarifying what is meant by "partial mobilization": As I have said, we are talking about partial mobilisation. In other words, only military reservists, primarily those who served in the armed forces and have specific military occupational specialties and corresponding experience, will be called up. Additionally, the Executive Order on partial mobilisation also stipulates additional measures for the fulfilment of the state defence order. The heads of defence industry enterprises will be directly responsible for attaining the goals of increasing the production of weapons and military equipment and using additional production facilities for this purpose. At the same time, the Government must address without any delay all aspects of material, resource and financial support for our defence enterprises.
  - The_Colonel 4y ago
    "partial" is part of the speech, but not of the decree which does not specify who can be mobilized: https://twitter.com/DrRadchenko/status/1572486143198756868 https://twitter.com/DrRadchenko/status/1572486143198756868
  - diimdeep 4y ago
    Also, official Telegram channel of Ministry of Defence posted[1][3] this transcript from Interview of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, General of the Army S. K. Shoigu[2][4] And, of course, I want to precede the questions that can appear in this regard: there is nothing to do with mobilising or conscripting students that currently study in higher educational institutions. All of them attend classes and nobody is going to conscript or to mobilise them. The same is about those who are currently in draft service. They are neither involved in it. They are not to be mobilised or sent to be involved in the special military operation. Our conscripts continue serving at the territory of the Russian Federation as they did before. That is because we have got an enormous mobilisation resource, the resource of those who have served. There are about 25 million of those who have combat experience and military profession. Therefore you can understand that this mobilisation is partial: one per cent or a bit more from the entire mobilisation resource. [1] https://t.me/mod_russia/20029 https://t.me/mod_russia/20029 [2] https://telegra.ph/Intervyu-Ministra-oborony-Rossijskoj-Federacii-generala-armii-SKSHojgu-09-21 https://telegra.ph/Intervyu-Ministra-oborony-Rossijskoj-Fede... [3] https://t.me/mod_russia_en/4198 https://t.me/mod_russia_en/4198 [4] https://telegra.ph/Interview-of-the-Minister-of-Defence-of-the-Russian-Federation-General-of-the-Army-SShoigu-to-Rossiya-1-TV-channel-09-21 https://telegra.ph/Interview-of-the-Minister-of-Defence-of-t...
throwaway22226 4y ago
waltwalther 4y ago
....ten years in a prison that probably isn't going to exist...
spywaregorilla 4y ago
A few months ago analysts were warning of impending collapse of Russia's troops due to poor supplies and poor morale. Russian cheerleaders on HN were doubting it as Western propaganda saying it had been declared for months and not materialized. Well it materialized in the collapse of the Kharkiv front over a week so there's that. In all, I don't think the mobilization is likely to matter. The Russian problem is bad supplies, bad comms, and bad morale. When the russian front in kharkiv collapsed and everyone fled, there were many units just wandering around, and even setting up defensive lines because they didn't know the rest of the force had been routed and that the enemy was already behind them. Forcing people to the front isn't going to change this. Russian strategy has been repeating idiotic assaults on bakhmut for 2 months with no gains while just trying to hold on elsewhere. Ukraine on the other hand has been maintaining a decent momentum from their offensive, taking Lyman, and on the verge of looking to retake Lysychansk and maybe Severodonetsk again. Progress will be relatively slow, but it's not crazy to imagine another wave of collapse. It'll take a long time to get a working army together. I'd bet on Ukraine and western support every day. The only thing that could change the calculus is nuclear weapons.
- tablespoon 4y ago
  > In all, I don't think the mobilization is likely to matter. The Russian problem is bad supplies, bad comms, and bad morale. The Russians may be suffering from "bad supplies, bad comms, and bad morale," but I've read in several places that they're also suffering from a lack of manpower. Or, more specifically: too much equipment in proportion to their ground troops, and also too many combat troops in proportion to support personnel.
- sofixa 4y ago
  > In all, I don't think the mobilization is likely to matter Oh it matters. More poorly trained and equipped cannon fodder means more dead and more prisoners. The influx of caskets into previously less impacted areas in Russia might start to impact the general population more - that's how the USSR had to pull out of Afghanistan.
  - spywaregorilla 4y ago
_V_ 4y ago
Regarding the "Partial" claim: https://twitter.com/JanR210/status/1572498112840695809 https://twitter.com/JanR210/status/1572498112840695809 Aeroflot stopped selling air tickets to all Russian men aged 18-65 who don’t have authorization from the military office (voenkomat).
- jacke 4y ago
  This is fake (at least for now). They can sell it. All tickets to Turkey, Dubai have already sold
2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
130 points, 3 hours ago, 184 comments Not on the front page or the second page of HN. The comments have been civil, all things considered. These events have been extremely consequential and possibly the root cause of the looming global recession.
- webinvest 4y ago
  That’s the beauty of HN. Being able to talk about important events and still be civil when discussing them. I didn’t upvote the article because I thought the article was lacking details. Example: >>>“New concepts were introduced into the Russian Criminal Code: including “voluntary surrender,” “looting,” “mobilization,” “martial law” and “wartime.”” >>>The rulings were passed unanimously.” In my opinion, the article is lacking for not including the actual new code or sentences from the code.
- rippercushions 4y ago
  C'mon, you can't expect potential WW3 to trump the current #1 item on HN: a 2011 article about "Effects of grill patterns on fan performance/noise".
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- bitcharmer 4y ago
  Probably manually moderated out by dang in favour of another submission about lisp with 11 comments. At least he doesn't purge /active which became my default some time ago.
SanjayMehta 4y ago
From where are people getting reliable updates on the ground situation? During the Gulf wars we would get all these "embedded" reporters; seems there aren't any now.
- _ph_ 4y ago
  There are a lot of western reporters on the ground in the Ukraine. Sometimes more, sometimes less close to the front. One difference to earlier conflicts is, that many Ukrainians of course have smartphones and consequently can record pictures and videos. These can be cross checked by the reporters and immediately give detailed information.
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aizen89 4y ago
It seems to me that the occupied regions of Ukraine are very vast and cannot be controlled by the number of Russian troops that they now have in Ukraine. Accordingly, more human resources are needed, so they want to close this gap with the help of this call (about 300 thousand soldiers).
- PoignardAzur 4y ago
  Well good news then, the occupied regions of Ukraine just got smaller.

197 points by _V_ 4y ago

_V_ 4y ago

(CNBC) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced a partial military mobilization in Russia, putting the country's people and economy on a wartime footing as Moscow's invasion of Ukraine continues. In a rare pre-recorded televised announcement, Putin said the West "wants to destroy our country" and claimed the West had tried to "turn Ukraine's people into cannon fodder," in comments translated by Reuters, repeating earlier claims in which he has blamed Western nations for starting a proxy war with Russia. Putin said "mobilization events" would begin Wednesday without providing further details, aside from saying that he had ordered an increase in funding to boost Russia's weapons production, having committed (and lost) a large amount of weaponry during the conflict, which began in late February.

Jenny_Wengerd 4y ago

MezzoDelCammin 4y ago
new account (created 6d ago) and this is the first submission?
- dekken_ 4y ago
  second
  - _V_ 4y ago
    aaaa, the green color is new-ish account? Nice! I was wondering about that for a while now :-D Not to actually google yet it but still :-)
    - leshenka 4y ago
      omg holy shit HN still uses <font> tags
      - detritus 4y ago
        Just wait 'til you see all the nested tables!

sam_lowry_ 4y ago

Partial... impartial... There is no such thing as "partial mobilization". There is a law on mobilization, but who cares about laws there days in Russia. The main objective of this mobilization is to call up to 5mln conscripts in the army. This morning, people already started to receive summons in person.

JoachimS 4y ago
It is a bit like the "balanced stance", what does a balanced stance on an invasion even mean? https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2022/sep/15/putin-thanks-xi-for-chinas-balanced-stance-on-ukraine-invasion-video https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2022/sep/15/putin-th...
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
apexalpha 4y ago
>There is no such thing as "partial mobilization". What do you mean by this? If you have 2 million men available in a full mobilization but call up only 300.000 this seems partial?
- makeitdouble 4y ago
  To push to the extreme, you'd have to mobilize every single Russian to have a "full" mobilization. So anything short of that is a "partial" mobilization, which would be basically be any actual mobilization.
  - WastingMyTime89 4y ago
    A full mobilisation would imply mobilising all the people who can be mobilised not every single Russian. That’s not what’s happening here hence the partial.
    - 4y ago

scanny 4y ago

It’s hard to see where this ends; should things move toward weakening of the Russian government will he go without attempting to escalate his way out of domestic danger? I think mobilisation and moving toward declaring the special operation a war (more mobilisation) could be the beginnings of that slippery slope.

newaccount2021 4y ago
Putin is "committed" so to speak, so this is just following his current strategy through to its conclusion: force the West to give up on Ukraine or accept massive escalation. The fundamental question is - is NATO committed enough to the Ukraine cause to demolish Europe? Probably not. Everyone talking about Russia being "already defeated" knows little of the Russian capacity for misery. Napoleon learned the hard way. The Russians also accepted losses in WW1 and the following civil war that would have destroyed most other societies (and indirectly destroyed Russia too), and of course, they continued fighting in WW2 when most democratic societies would have surrendered. Do not underestimate Russia. Compare losses in the Brusilov Offensive alone to all-time combat losses for most other nations (including the US)...Russians will keep fighting long after it seems sensible. Eventually Biden and Blinken will back away from Ukraine...the US public will find another Current Thing to obsess over, and US troop commitments are completely out of the question. Basically, Russia gets Ukraine eventually, its just a matter of how bad the carnage is
- rcxdude 4y ago
  Russia needs to not do the same: its plays so far have assumed that the US and Europe are not willing to sacrifice anything to help Ukraine, which has turned out to be false. It also remains to be seen whether Russians ability to suffer terrible conditions translates to effectiveness in an offensive war (especially worth considering that Ukraine's most recent offensive resulted in a rout of some of Russia's most elite soldiers). With the US specifically, it has a capability of sustaining an unpopular war where american soldiers are dying for a suprisingly long time. This is a war where no US soldiers are dying and there's is both tremendous popular and political support for continuing to support Ukraine from both sides of the political spectrum (which is getting very rare. Yes there are some voices spouting Russian propaganda but they seem to have little sway).

tclover 4y ago

LargoLasskhyfv 4y ago
Relax. Spontaneous combustion ends all frustration. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, gone with the wind...

durnygbur 4y ago

With individual EU countries being perfectly egoistic and pragmatist, with Germans being in the pockets of Russian oligarchs, this situation overall is heading into catastrophic direction.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
BurningPenguin 4y ago
Dude, we don't get any gas anymore from them, the oligarchs are on sanctions lists and one of those oligarchs is currently getting raided by the police for tax evasion. More are probably going to follow.
WastingMyTime89 4y ago
I personally blame Russia war mongering, the USA brain dead diplomacy of the past twenty-five years and their constant meddling in European affairs for their own advantage. But to each their own I guess.

TheWoodsy 4y ago

Their main propaganda news channel has already said (incorrectly) that they are already fighting NATO and US troops in the breakaway areas. Is it time to make this a reality? I really don't see it ending without it happening. russia has shown that it has no regard for the suffering of any troops of any nationality. So purely from a population perspective, Ukraine will fail eventually unless they can effectively force-multiply like we've never seen in any other armed conflict.

yrgulation 4y ago
Nein. Germany will block it. See, its very convenient to have a weak east europe.
- durnygbur 4y ago
  Their automotive industry and demography are on catastrophic crossroads, ~100 mln of people and the land between Germany and Russia are just such convenient resources.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - yrgulation 4y ago
    Their automotive industry depends on east europe, and is a massive source of pollution and clocked cars. Some countries tried banning old german cars but obviously the eu “threatened” them with “sanctions”. So its not just the resources they are after but also their pockets and health. Just here on this forum you can see many express disdain at east europeans, more than any other group of people, instead of acting like actual allies. Perhaps poland’s idea of germany paying its debt to east europe is not such a bad idea and should be taken care of in full force once this war is over.
    - eternalban 4y ago
      It is interesting how neither the Russians nor the West delves on to what extent this whole affair is about Germany, and the role Germany played in all this. Even now, the official narratives involving Germany focus on foot dragging on arming, stuff like that, whereas the actual geopolitical story is so much more 'interesting'. Btw, history calls with a rude interruption to remind that the Germans were also the first to give the Yugoslavian civil war a nice big push to get it going. https://apnews.com/article/f07f4162e6bb20a7039c69d10e526a62 https://apnews.com/article/f07f4162e6bb20a7039c69d10e526a62 p.s. EU (Germany+France) + Russia + China as foundational to next layer BRI + BRICS, countering "Anglo-Saxon" Empire of Waters. This is what the war is actually about. Take out the Schnaps and get Schroeder and Merkle drunk and they will tell you all about it. :-) [preemptive p.s.s. Yes, of course, but that's why NS2 had to be stopped.]

yodsanklai 4y ago

Stupid question, but what does Putin want exactly? what will end the war?

mjfl 4y ago
Putin wants to secure Crimea, which is where a large part of the Russian navy is and their only connection to the Mediterranean.
- _visgean 4y ago
  > their only connection to the Mediterranean. If you look at the map russia has quite a few other cities with direct access to black sea. e.g. Rosnov, Sochi, Novorosijsk...
  - mjfl 4y ago
    touche. I guess I'm stupid. But Sevastopol is important.
    - _ph_ 4y ago
      It was important. As the Ukraine already attacked targets there, recently Russia moved their submarine base from Sevastopol to some mainland harbor. That means, effectively this harbor has been lost to Russia as a consequence of the war. Never mind that the Bosporus is closed for military vessels.
      - _visgean 4y ago
        Yeah i think that would be here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Novorossiysk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Novorossiysk
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
      - mjfl 4y ago

globalise83 4y ago

Personally I believe that NATO should occupy the whole of Western Ukraine up to about 100km from the frontline, with a clear warning that any direct fire on NATO troops will result in retaliation. This will free up the Ukrainians to fight Russia on the frontline without worries about Belarus etc.

rozab 4y ago
do you know what occupy means
- hoseja 4y ago
  Be present somewhere. What you're thinking of is a derived meaning, because usually the presence is facilitated by use of force.
- shusaku 4y ago
  I swear some people think real wars work just like risk and all you have to do is stuck your soldiers on a country tile to improve their defense.
  - baskire 4y ago
  - timbit42 4y ago
    Took me a bit to realize you are talking about Risk.

nindalf 4y ago

Putin's approval rating since the war began has been a steady 80%+ (https://www.statista.com/statistics/896181/putin-approval-rating-russia/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/896181/putin-approval-ra...). We don't know yet what September's numbers will look like, but it will likely take a hit from the retreats and losses of territory to the Ukrainians this month. Mobilization is going to drop that further. People are ok supporting a war in the abstract, but less so if they have to go out there and fight themselves. And they'll like it even less when they find that people with connections aren't being called up. Calling for mobilization now gives them a few months to train and get equipped when winter brings fighting to a close. It'd be interesting to see where Russia finds officers for these new troops. Or maybe training/equipment/officers don't matter, if the plan is to use them as cannon fodder. Regardless, Ukraine will find it harder to make progress next year like they've done in the last few weeks. There won't be any fronts that are thinly manned and easy to punch through like Kharkiv was.

ClumsyPilot 4y ago
> Putin's approval rating since the war began has been a steady 80%+ (https://www.statista.com/statistics/896181/putin-approval-ra https://www.statista.com/statistics/896181/putin-approval-ra...). These numbers are meaningless. Approval could be 5% and you wouldn't know, amd average russian wouldn't know. Its difficult for a western mindset to understand the mentality. In Russia no-one trusts that a rating agency is independant or real or has nothing to do with the government. They will always reply that they support any official policy, even if the policy is anal probing. Many have gone to jail for 15 years for voicing dissent. Prisons with widespread torture https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-introduce-jail-terms-spreading-fake-information-about-army-2022-03-04/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-introduce-jail-t... I am hoping that mobilisation will cause some sort of social unrest. You don't know what everyone else is thinking, it's like the opposite of manufacturing concent
sereja 4y ago
The mobilization only includes people who formerly served in the military (at least 1-2 years of training). A certain percentage of them are "reservists" who work normal jobs but are summoned for a month-long military training every year to be ready in the case of war, and so they will probably be prioritized (at least according to Putin & Shoigu). This is not cannon fodder. Russia is running out of willing soldiers, not soldiers in general.

MasterYoda 4y ago

I really hope the russian/kreml/putin war against Ukraine will end in a epic failure for them. I also hope that frozen russian assets in west can be confiscated to build up Ukraine again, russia has to be accountable and pay for all madness and horrific things they have done.

softwareoiu 4y ago
88840-8855 4y ago
Oh yeah, super good idea. We had fantastic experience with humiliated nations before. It worked so well for Germany after WW1 /s FACT: the end of this war must be positive for the Russian people, no matter whether Russia loses or wins the military operation. Putin came to power because the West didnt help the former Soviet republics. If Russia is left alone humiliated again then we will have the next anti-western system in 10 years.
- te_chris 4y ago
  That’s not a fact. It’s up to Russians and Russia what happens after this.
- dandanua 4y ago
  Yes, it's Ukraine must give up everything and pay reparations for russians - so they don't feel humiliated because of who they are. /s
- elurg 4y ago
- DennisP 4y ago
  The worst that will happen to Russia is that they get pushed all the way out of the country they invaded, and maybe lose various assets they have in other foreign countries. Nobody's foolish enough to try to make Russia flat-out surrender, like Germany in WWI. Caution is certainly warranted but it doesn't seem productive to reward Russia for invading another country.

shusaku 4y ago

It seems like every piece of news about this war gets buried in an avalanche of “beware propaganda and misinformation” caveats. But I suppose at this point it is safe to say this has gone quite poorly for Russia so far.

skc 4y ago

Is there any scenario from this point onwards, any at all that results in Russia coming out stronger once the smoke clears? Because I can't see any. Seems to me like the Russian govt are now in a situation where they have no choice but to see this thing through just to try and save face.

Mesopropithecus 4y ago
Mobilization could be a sign that it's no longer about face but about ass.
- kjeetgill 4y ago
  What does this mean?
  - stnikolauswagne 4y ago
    I presume its about what to „save“ as in „saving face“, i.e. keeping your reputation intact vs. „Saving ass“, i.e. staying alive/in power. Keeping up the facade of this being a „special military operation“ left alive the excuse of „we are not really trying all that hard to win this“ whereas (partial) mobilization more signlas towards „this is going south lets do whatever works to end this“
    - timbit42 4y ago
      Are they going to try to blame this failure on the soldiers?
ajvs 4y ago
Well they're still not having the energy crisis and inflation of the West, so at this rate it seems likely they'll maintain this win.
- oneoff786 4y ago
  Inflation in Russia is significantly worse

thinkingemote 4y ago

Will the winter and the frozen ground give advantages to Russia? When is this likely to happen? I heard that the February invasion was too late and that the thaw was beginning, hampering access.

leshenka 4y ago
Winter means you need winter outfit and that was a problem in February. No idea if it still is.
oneoff786 4y ago
Given their piss poor logistics and supplies, it seems very unlikely that they will be prepared for a winter invasion. Those men will freeze to death.
paganel 4y ago
According to Shoigu (their minister of Defence) they'll use the conscripted men in order to secure the existing front-line, which is quite long. Couple that with the incoming referendums during which the regions that now Russia controls in Southern and Eastern Ukraine will vote for an annexation to Russia, which makes me doubtful that the Russian Army will try and make a push further North across the Dnieper or even towards Mykolaiv or Odessa. Not sure though what will happen with the part of Donetsk region that they do no presently control, i.e. to cities like Kramatorsk and Slavyansk. As such, I don't think that the ground being frozen or not will have such a big effect going forward. Of course, I might be wrong on all this and the Russians launching a new offensive on Kiev and Kharkov.
- lrdd 4y ago
  Kyiv and Kharkiv I think it is more correct to use Ukrainian names for Ukrainian cities over Russian.
  - paganel 4y ago
    Kiev and Kharkov is what we use in Romanian (spelled in a slightly different manner, but pronounced the same), I think I can manage this. Were I to speak or write in Ukrainian (which is a language I don't know, for the time being) I would have used the Ukrainian spelling.

willsmith72 4y ago

This is really going to screw Russia for generations. Every young Russian I know has either already left, plans to leave, or has to stay but hates their leader. You don't get your country to turn into a superpower by losing the most educated and skilled of the young generations. I only hope as things get more desperate he doesn't feel trapped lash out with the nukes.

withinboredom 4y ago
- egeozcan 4y ago
  That's nothing like the scale of migration happening from countries like Russia and Turkey. Turkey's lifeline for work-force has been the incoming migration from the east (as it's the bridge to Europe), I don't know how Russia can survive that.
- dan-robertson 4y ago
  I think it’s just extremely untrue that the US is experiencing anything like the Russian brain drain (or indeed any net brain drain at all). The US does have a bunch of problems (eg the poorest people live terribly for such a rich country; political issues around polarisation, skilled immigration, etc) but I think they are basically insignificant when compared to Russia’s.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - stiltzkin 4y ago
    I disagree insignificant due to how the U.S. treated South American in the past, and there are more examples how extreme U.S. can be.
    - dan-robertson 4y ago
      I don’t know what you’re saying? Are you saying that the US treated South American[s?] poorly in the past therefore they are experiencing brain drain[1] which is significant compared to the brain drain Russia is experiencing? I think that’s patently false but I can’t work out how else to parse your sentence. [1] Note that, on net, the US is experiencing ‘brain accumulation’ (especially in science/tech) not brain drain, despite the slightly broken immigration system.

LatteLazy 4y ago

It's really concerning how many people here are calling for a war between nuclear states...

rightbyte 4y ago
There is this Reddit meme pretending nukes does not exist.
nickpp 4y ago
It’s really concerning how many people here would cave to nuclear blackmail. Which part of your own country would you be willing to give up to the nuclear power so it doesn’t launch its nukes for now?

albertopv 4y ago

Russia has no military capabilities to feed and transport so many soldiers, let alone train them, officers are already in Ukraine and probably already dead. It's basically cannon fodder.

sofixa 4y ago
> It's basically cannon fodder. Yep, same as Luhansk and Donetsk "volunteers", with WWI vintage rifles and 1960s tanks. This hasn't worked since WWI, or even before (the humiliations against China) so I'm curious how they see this playing out.

bjourne 4y ago

Can someone Russian explain what on earth they are thinking? Russia appears to have 10x the casualties as Ukraine, soldiers that doesn't really want to fight, and are currently losing. Yet the leaders think it is a good idea to keep the war going? To me it seems that with the material Ukraine is receiving from the West they will easily retake all territory Russia has occupied.

rcMgD2BwE72F 4y ago
>Russia appears to have 10x the casualties as Ukraine Reliable source? That isn't what I read anywhere from not-so-partial sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Russo-Ukrainian_War#2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Russo-Ukrain...
- leshenka 4y ago
  Officials say there are close to 6k dead. Mobilization wants 300k recruits. This doesn't add up at all. Not sure about 10x casualties as Ukraine, but I'm sure it's 10x of what they're saying
  - AlfeG 4y ago
    Recruiting 300k and number of dead soldiers are not always correlate. It's amount of land to control and amount of soldiers required is in correlation. RF seems underestimate amount of soldiers need to control and protect land, they dropped lot of land and reduced length border to protect.
- Markoff 4y ago
  I like how Russian forces have various estimates, but for Ukrainian forces we take Ukraine data for granted, while the truth is both countries are highly likely downplaying their losses, same as both of their dictators are same corrupted thieves as proven in Pandora Papers last year when they were appearing together in all articles. Can't believe someone believes any data coming from these 3rd world countries.

ClumsyPilot 4y ago

All flights out of Russia are now booked out with millions of people trying to escape mobilisation. If the Western leaders had any foresight, they would come up with a scheme that enables them to do so and drains Putin's manpower. Anything from rebuilding Ukraine to getting them a free ticket to Brazil. Unfortunately, as demonstrated by dependancy on Russian gas, western leaders have the foresight of a frog. The recent visa restrictions only help government propaganda that the West hates the russian people so you must fight. Also braindead decisions like language test centers banning Russians so now you can't get a test to apply for a job or visa.

vegardx 4y ago
The people that could realistically move from Russia already have. Just because all flights are fully booked doens't mean millions are willing to or able to move. And what gas? Currently Russia is exporting a negligible amount of gas to western countries. They played that card a long time ago. It's almost comical to talk about foresight and Russia in the same sentence without even acknowledging how blind Putin has had to have been to even have considered starting this mess.
- ClumsyPilot 4y ago
  > It's almost comical to talk about foresight and Russia in the same sentence I don't think our benchmark for foresight should be an aging dictator thats probably loosing his mind. > The people that could realistically move from Russia already have. What is the basis for this assertion? You could say 'we don't want them here', at least it would be honest. But let's not pretend they had every opportunity to leave and simply chose not to. Most people can't leave because they have no long-term visas to anywhere. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled to Georgia because it's one of the very few countries that allow visa-free entry. Many are illegally overstaying, because there is nothing else they can do. For the top 5% of Russians that have knowledge of English, the legal chops,the income and the grounds to get a western visas, embassies take many months to process your documents, have quotas and limited processing capacity. And they reduced their staff levels since the 'special operation' started. You can even be refused visa to donate an organ to your family https://www.ieyenews.com/uk-leukaemia-transplant-blocked-by-home-office-visa-denial/ https://www.ieyenews.com/uk-leukaemia-transplant-blocked-by-... Suppose you are an upper class Russian that has savings, earned every penny honestly and wants to leave to Britain. What can you do? Well maybe you get yourself an excellent job that sponsors your visa, suppose you have 300k+ of salary and all the time in the world. But can you bring with your dumb brother? No, you will have to leave him behing, watch him get drafted and killed. Can you bring your aging mother with arthritis that needs regular help just to get through the day? No, you cannot. What are you meant to do, leave them behind to die?

kirso 4y ago

Despite the sad news this thread reads like all technologists of HN suddenly became military professionals and strategists whilst utilising the bubble sort strategy to call out for nuclear war, full scale conflict or just territorial gains. I mean nothing is as simple as it seems...

diimdeep 4y ago

It is usually recommended here to read information from sources, here: Address by the President of the Russian Federation (English transcript) [1] (video in Russian, no subs)[2] [1] http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69390 http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69390 [2] http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69390 http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/69390

zppln 4y ago
Excerpts clarifying what is meant by "partial mobilization": As I have said, we are talking about partial mobilisation. In other words, only military reservists, primarily those who served in the armed forces and have specific military occupational specialties and corresponding experience, will be called up. Additionally, the Executive Order on partial mobilisation also stipulates additional measures for the fulfilment of the state defence order. The heads of defence industry enterprises will be directly responsible for attaining the goals of increasing the production of weapons and military equipment and using additional production facilities for this purpose. At the same time, the Government must address without any delay all aspects of material, resource and financial support for our defence enterprises.
- The_Colonel 4y ago
  "partial" is part of the speech, but not of the decree which does not specify who can be mobilized: https://twitter.com/DrRadchenko/status/1572486143198756868 https://twitter.com/DrRadchenko/status/1572486143198756868
- diimdeep 4y ago
  Also, official Telegram channel of Ministry of Defence posted[1][3] this transcript from Interview of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, General of the Army S. K. Shoigu[2][4] And, of course, I want to precede the questions that can appear in this regard: there is nothing to do with mobilising or conscripting students that currently study in higher educational institutions. All of them attend classes and nobody is going to conscript or to mobilise them. The same is about those who are currently in draft service. They are neither involved in it. They are not to be mobilised or sent to be involved in the special military operation. Our conscripts continue serving at the territory of the Russian Federation as they did before. That is because we have got an enormous mobilisation resource, the resource of those who have served. There are about 25 million of those who have combat experience and military profession. Therefore you can understand that this mobilisation is partial: one per cent or a bit more from the entire mobilisation resource. [1] https://t.me/mod_russia/20029 https://t.me/mod_russia/20029 [2] https://telegra.ph/Intervyu-Ministra-oborony-Rossijskoj-Federacii-generala-armii-SKSHojgu-09-21 https://telegra.ph/Intervyu-Ministra-oborony-Rossijskoj-Fede... [3] https://t.me/mod_russia_en/4198 https://t.me/mod_russia_en/4198 [4] https://telegra.ph/Interview-of-the-Minister-of-Defence-of-the-Russian-Federation-General-of-the-Army-SShoigu-to-Rossiya-1-TV-channel-09-21 https://telegra.ph/Interview-of-the-Minister-of-Defence-of-t...

throwaway22226 4y ago

waltwalther 4y ago

....ten years in a prison that probably isn't going to exist...

spywaregorilla 4y ago

A few months ago analysts were warning of impending collapse of Russia's troops due to poor supplies and poor morale. Russian cheerleaders on HN were doubting it as Western propaganda saying it had been declared for months and not materialized. Well it materialized in the collapse of the Kharkiv front over a week so there's that. In all, I don't think the mobilization is likely to matter. The Russian problem is bad supplies, bad comms, and bad morale. When the russian front in kharkiv collapsed and everyone fled, there were many units just wandering around, and even setting up defensive lines because they didn't know the rest of the force had been routed and that the enemy was already behind them. Forcing people to the front isn't going to change this. Russian strategy has been repeating idiotic assaults on bakhmut for 2 months with no gains while just trying to hold on elsewhere. Ukraine on the other hand has been maintaining a decent momentum from their offensive, taking Lyman, and on the verge of looking to retake Lysychansk and maybe Severodonetsk again. Progress will be relatively slow, but it's not crazy to imagine another wave of collapse. It'll take a long time to get a working army together. I'd bet on Ukraine and western support every day. The only thing that could change the calculus is nuclear weapons.

tablespoon 4y ago
> In all, I don't think the mobilization is likely to matter. The Russian problem is bad supplies, bad comms, and bad morale. The Russians may be suffering from "bad supplies, bad comms, and bad morale," but I've read in several places that they're also suffering from a lack of manpower. Or, more specifically: too much equipment in proportion to their ground troops, and also too many combat troops in proportion to support personnel.
sofixa 4y ago
> In all, I don't think the mobilization is likely to matter Oh it matters. More poorly trained and equipped cannon fodder means more dead and more prisoners. The influx of caskets into previously less impacted areas in Russia might start to impact the general population more - that's how the USSR had to pull out of Afghanistan.
- spywaregorilla 4y ago

_V_ 4y ago

Regarding the "Partial" claim: https://twitter.com/JanR210/status/1572498112840695809 https://twitter.com/JanR210/status/1572498112840695809 Aeroflot stopped selling air tickets to all Russian men aged 18-65 who don’t have authorization from the military office (voenkomat).

jacke 4y ago
This is fake (at least for now). They can sell it. All tickets to Turkey, Dubai have already sold

2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago

130 points, 3 hours ago, 184 comments Not on the front page or the second page of HN. The comments have been civil, all things considered. These events have been extremely consequential and possibly the root cause of the looming global recession.

webinvest 4y ago
That’s the beauty of HN. Being able to talk about important events and still be civil when discussing them. I didn’t upvote the article because I thought the article was lacking details. Example: >>>“New concepts were introduced into the Russian Criminal Code: including “voluntary surrender,” “looting,” “mobilization,” “martial law” and “wartime.”” >>>The rulings were passed unanimously.” In my opinion, the article is lacking for not including the actual new code or sentences from the code.
rippercushions 4y ago
C'mon, you can't expect potential WW3 to trump the current #1 item on HN: a 2011 article about "Effects of grill patterns on fan performance/noise".
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
bitcharmer 4y ago
Probably manually moderated out by dang in favour of another submission about lisp with 11 comments. At least he doesn't purge /active which became my default some time ago.

SanjayMehta 4y ago

From where are people getting reliable updates on the ground situation? During the Gulf wars we would get all these "embedded" reporters; seems there aren't any now.

_ph_ 4y ago
There are a lot of western reporters on the ground in the Ukraine. Sometimes more, sometimes less close to the front. One difference to earlier conflicts is, that many Ukrainians of course have smartphones and consequently can record pictures and videos. These can be cross checked by the reporters and immediately give detailed information.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

aizen89 4y ago

It seems to me that the occupied regions of Ukraine are very vast and cannot be controlled by the number of Russian troops that they now have in Ukraine. Accordingly, more human resources are needed, so they want to close this gap with the help of this call (about 300 thousand soldiers).

PoignardAzur 4y ago
Well good news then, the occupied regions of Ukraine just got smaller.