Vladimir Putin has ordered the conscription of another 133,000 soldiers to aid his war in Ukraine.
The 18-to-30 year olds will be called up between tomorrow and December 31, but parents have raised fear that the untrained conscripts will be thrust straight into ‘hot’ border regions close to the war zone.
The figure is higher than the same draft last year when Putin recruited 130,000, and in spring when he drafted another 150,000.
The Russian regime is facing an increasing backlash over use of conscripts close to the war zone in defiance of an earlier Putin promise to parents that he would not put recruits in harm’s way.
Unfortunately, the collapse is very slow. Their national wealth fund is currently their bread basket, and that is maintained by their energy exports. With the price of oil being so high, they should be able to sustain their current economy for a couple years at least. There will be shortages, especially in areas where they were reliant on imports.
However, from what I’ve read, oil would have to drop to around $60 a barrel to spur an economic collapse swift and bad enough to make the war unsustainable. That or the EU and US would actually have to militaristically enforce the energy embargo.
That’s how these types of collapses work though.
Everything just barely holds together and then the literally straw that breaks the camel’s back hits and then it all goes to shit in an instant.
They’re keeping it together but at what cost? We can clearly see the social and demographic cost that will hit in a decade, we can see the economic costs hitting but how long till that manifests into something they can’t policy their way out of is a big question.
Russia is spending its future, both economically and demographically, and can’t avoid the consequences. But will those consequences hit them in time to help Ukraine?
Even if they are able to grind down Ukraine, can they really be hoping the Ukrainian economy will help Russia rebuild, after its bombed to hell and back?