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.
160K isn’t gonna cut that though. He’ll need several hundred K more if he realistically wants to actually have any gains at all.
I think Vladdy knows that the threat of war is much more of a nuisance to Europe than actually fighting and losing soldiers. This is just for threat posturing at borders.
The real war is being fought with unmarked soldiers, unsuspicious russian cargo vessels, heavily propagandising one country (Hungary), while leaving others virtually alone (France) to saw division, etc.
Nobody wins a war from the west. They know they have to go asymmetric, and they are, and the longer it takes Europe to realise that, the longer they will suffer. They also know wars are over 50% psychological.
while leaving others virtually alone (France)
You realize Orbán has been bankrolling Le Pen pretty hard, right?
Yep, but see what happened this week? France is a stupid country to try and get on your side from Russian perspective. They will always get drunk, revolt and then do a threesome with your women after they’re finished chopping the head off the invaders.
ooooo those French! ;)
🇫🇷
Vive la Republique 🇫🇷
Yeah, but Le Pen’s party is still going strong. I wouldn’t call it a win yet.
