Summary
Vladimir Putin ordered the conscription of 160,000 men—the largest draft since 2011—despite ongoing U.S.-mediated ceasefire talks with Ukraine.
The move raises doubts about Russia’s commitment to diplomacy, with Kyiv accusing Moscow of using talks to buy time for battlefield gains in Sumy, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia.
Ukraine claims Russia intends to escalate the war, citing forced contracts for conscripts. Losses remain high on both sides, with Russia reportedly losing over 100,000 troops in 2024 alone.
100k loss is a crazy amount of death… Sadly, looking at population numbers, Russia is about 143 million people, so it shouldn’t be as hard as I thought it would be for them to find more people to send to slaughter.
Take a look at their demographics, and add the millions who have fled or died or been so maimed they can’t work and well you’ll see why there is a labour shortage already just to have ordinary things up and running. Now imagine having enough tax revenue to take care for the elderly …