Are they actually planning to just throw untrained, unmotivated soldiers into the frontlines? I’m not a military expert by any means, but that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen to me…
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I think the phrase I would use is “cannon fodder”.
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I’m hoping that the St Petersburg scenario talked about above plays out rather than the alternative of more death and destruction in Ukraine.
For anybody else alarmed at Putin’s recent comments about not bluffing when it comes to his willingness to use nuclear weapons , there is recent research from Chatham House which delves into its likelihood , and what the West’s response should be to such intimidation tactics. And , reassuringly , I think we should bear in mind too that there are procedures and processes in place too that would preclude him from simply giving the order and it actually being carried out.
(The page wouldn’t embed , the relevant piece is ‘Myth 6’ )
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I am surprised. 2 weeks training !!! ??? I had expected a month the very minimum even in Russia and preferebly 2.
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Neither are Ruzzkies.
Their usual tactics:
Battalion commander: What needs to be destroyed comrade Colonel?
Colonel: Yes.
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Somewhere, someone in the Kremlin has said that they are already trained, due to prior service
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Naaaaah. Its enough. You know… AK will be given to every 9th soldier while ammo will be given to every 5th soldier. They are trained enough.
Seriously though… I really don’t understand what these poor mobilized drunkards will achieve.
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Im guessing an early death, sadly. I say sadly because there will be many conscripts that don’t actually want to go into combat.
One sentence that highlighted the delusion of the situation was, ‘no one will fire you from your job, your job is reserved, your workplace’.
Like in all honesty, that would have been my first question 
. Maybe, my question would be more like, what is the likelihood of me returning to work?
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fify
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No idea how reliabke this guy is, but here’s his compiled report on the northern battlefront evolution:
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When will the special operation be over? (might be a starting point of negociation.
Then, 'Who will drink all the alcohol whilst I’m gone?
They, Russia, are treating this like WWI send the cannon fodder and keep dancing in the wealthy cities (i.e they see this as a war of attrition).
I’ve been using “Howiz & HIMARS fodder”. 
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I don’t mean to trivialize this but this is beginning to feel like the military version of Days Of Our Lives. It will just keep going, only the hard core and bored ones will follow and hopefully one day it will all end… Of course in Ukrainian favor.
The NYT has an interesting piece this morning about Putin’s micro-management of the war and the friction it’s creating with his generals. Most pertinent , with regard to the current counter-offensive , is his refusal to allow a retreat from Kherson and also his reluctance to countenance another fall back position in the north east to consolidate the defensive line.
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Heavy fighting near Lyman. Drobysheve flanks Lyman.
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I agree with some of the article, particularly the Western nuclear powers providing more clarity of their response to a Russian nuclear first strike, regardless of whether the attack is on a NATO country or not.
There was a guardian article yesterday talking about Ukraine potentially needing to cede Luhansk and Donetsk as a way to avoid escalation when those regions are annexed by Russia, which is the very intimidation Russia relies on at every step. That needs to stop.
But I do question how closely a leader not of sound mind would follow Russian nuclear doctrine. Is Putin all there in the head?
There are way too many Putin apologists in the Grauniad.
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Emmanuel Macron did an interview with Jake Tapper for CNN last week while he was in NY for the UN General Assembly meeting , and just after he’d announced the mobilisation. I haven’t seen the whole thing but part of what I did see included Tapper asking him if Putin was just getting bad advice. Pointedly , and remarkably I thought considering Macron is one of the few western leaders who speaks with him directly , Macron replied that the invasion was his decision alone , as was the escalatory move to go for mobilisation. He then , quite seriously , reflected upon the effects of his self-imposed isolation during the pandemic and concluded that he had become ‘detached from reality’ during that period. I thought that was a stunning thing to say , particularly from someone who has for a long time cultivated a private relationship with him (and been condemned for it) and probably knows him as well as anybody. It might sound flippant coming from anybody else but he was entirely earnest.
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