Vladimir Putin continues to face intense criticism as Russians grow weary of his almost year-long invasion of Ukraine that has been nothing short of an embarrassment. During a recent sitdown meeting with Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, Putin was told to his face that over 9,000 conscripted troops were mobilized illegally.
Putin made the decision to start drafting citizens after Russian forces failed to immediately secure a decisive victory in Ukraine. Instead, Putin’s army was plagued with broken down tanks, saboteurs, and poorly trained soldiers who were either easily killed or captured or deserted their posts. Bringing in conscripted troops did little to help the situation. Via Insider:
Igor Krasnov told Russian President Vladimir Putin that almost 9,000 reservists were mobilized illegally, according to a transcript of their conversation released by the Kremlin on Tuesday. He said that many of them should not have been sent in the first place because of ill health, and were later returned to Russia. Krasnov also said there had been issues with paying the troops.
Krasnov also told Putin that the illegal mobilization “revealed a lot of significant problems” with Russia’s military forces. (Experts and defectors have repeatedly said that Russian generals use troops like “cannon fodder.”) Interestingly, Putin praised Krasnov for his work and instructed him to keep “monitoring” the rights of Russians. However, the Kremlin releasing a transcript of their conversation is reportedly considered an effort to soften concerns about another massive troop mobilization that Ukrainian intelligence predicts will occur in the spring.
In other words, don’t expect Putin to actually take any of this criticism to heart.
(Via Insider)