THE NEWS

Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the Ukrainian military’s severe manpower crisis in a very blunt and sarcastic way, following well over three years of what has become a grinding war of attrition for both sides.

Ukrainian recruitment officials have been rounding up would-be soldiers “like dogs” in the country’s streets, the Russian leader said. He made the remarks in a Tuesday meeting with members of ‘Business Russia’ in which he by contrast praised the steady influx of volunteers Russia’s army has seen.

“While the Kiev authorities are engaged in forced mobilization – people are caught like dogs on the street, then our guys go voluntarily, they go themselves… They are catching 30 thousand people there now, and we have 50-60 thousand a month enlisting willingly,” Putin said, according to state media translation.

However, Western intelligence sources would beg to differ. They have long claimed that Russia too is suffering significant manpower shortages, and that this was on display early in the war by the prominence of Wagner and other mercenary firms on the battlefield, as well as controversial tactics like recruiting straight from prisons. But all analysts agree that Ukraine’s problems are far more acute at this point.

Ukraine’s manpower problems have never been a secret, and over the last year coverage has picked up in American mainstream press. Kiev’s general mobilization policies which have been in effect since 2022 have included a controversial law banning men who are between 18 and 60 years old from leaving the country

Endless videos have also circulated showing brutal tactics of recruitment officers – from grabbing young men from their cars at checkpoints to tackling people in the streets and shoving them into vans.

For example, Hungarian channel M1-Hirado recently ran a special news segment compiling terrifying footage of Ukrainians being beaten and shoved into vans in forced mobilization operations.

There remains deep fear over being sent off to Ukrainian boot camp given the likelihood of quickly being shipped off to he front lines. Most Ukrainians have come to see this as essentially a death sentence.

We detailed before that to make up for recruitment shortfalls, authorities from the so-called Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center (TCK) are using increasingly aggressive methods to meet monthly draft quotas. 

After morning briefings, officers split into teams and search various locations around the city – cafes, restaurants, and even nightclubs – for men eligible for military service.