Hromov said during an online briefing Thursday that the Russian conscripts included in this “main activity” will probably work to contain Ukraine’s actions in some areas of the war front, as well as “evenly strengthen other areas of the front.” He did not specify exactly where on the front lines Ukraine expects to see these Russian reinforcements within the next approximately two weeks.
Newsweek was not able to independently verify Hromov’s report and reached out to Russia’s Defense Ministry for confirmation and comment. Newsweek also reached out to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for more details on where it believes the mobilized Russians will be sent on the front lines.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial draft on September 21 as he contended with a series of setbacks in his invasion of Ukraine, such as Ukrainian advances in the east and south. He said that Russia would mobilize up to 300,000 additional soldiers to fight in the war, a move that he said would be limited to Russian citizens currently in the reserves and those who have served in the armed forces with “certain military specialties and relevant experience.”
On October 14, Putin told reporters that the mobilization would be completed in about two weeks, according to the Russian state-owned Tass news agency. If true, the end of Putin’s mobilization would come between one to two weeks before Russian reinforcements are purportedly expected to arrive at parts of the front lines, per Hromov’s comments.
But it remains unclear if an influx of Russian soldiers on the war front will be able to turn the conflict in Putin’s favor. Issues were reported with the draft ever since it was launched, including some people being mistakenly mobilized and a lack of supplies for the conscripts.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged Wednesday that Russia does not currently have enough supplies for its drafted soldiers, but said that a newly-formed council created by Putin was working on resolving the issues.
“Vigorous measures taken to rectify the situation are already yielding the first positive results,” he said.
Last month, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. think tank, assessed that the draft, which it said was facing “serious and systemic problems,” may not be able to generate quality soldiers.
“The Russian mobilization system is struggling to execute the task Russian President Vladimir Putin set and will likely fail to produce mobilized reserve forces even of the low quality that Putin’s plans would have generated unless the Kremlin can rapidly fix fundamental and systemic problems,” the ISW said.
