Russia is experiencing problems with recruiting personnel: what are the reasons?
Військові РФ/Фото з відкритих джерел
Russia is facing a personnel shortage that is even worse than Ukraine’s, according to military expert Pavel Narozhny, founder of the charity “Reactive Mail.”
“They’re short on manpower. The front is incredibly long. It’s a problem for us, and an even bigger problem for the Russians. Because the front is crescent-shaped. We’re inside this crescent, and the enemy is outside. And for them, the logistics are much more complicated. We can, roughly speaking, get in a car in Sumy and drive to Kherson. It can be done in a single day. But for the Russians, to move troops from Sumy to Kherson, they’ll most likely have to travel through Crimea. For them, that’s 2,500-3,000 km,” Narozhny explained on Radio NV .
He adds that due to the extensive front, Russia needs a large military presence. Furthermore, the Defense Forces are destroying a significant number of Russian personnel, which they cannot replenish quickly. This creates a major problem, which it is unclear whether Russia will resolve.
“A large-scale mobilization would be a huge political loss for Putin, a propaganda failure. Because he’s doing well; the SVO is going according to plan,” explains Pavel Narozhny.
In particular, he notes that this problem could disrupt Russia’s offensive actions, which were already planned for this summer.
“They can only attack on a relatively small section of the front. We’re talking more about Donbas now. And that’s why I’m even prepared to make a small, very cautious prediction: this offensive operation will be the most unsuccessful of all the offensive operations in the four years of large-scale invasion.”
As a reminder, “Pryamoy” previously reported that Russia is using deception and manipulation to attract more people into the military. Crimean residents were promised safe service close to home, but the reality turned out to be different.
It is also known that in the first three months of 2026, Russia was unable to recruit the planned number of contract soldiers into the army.
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