Kremlin try to show favourable conditions for attracting volunteers to army – ISW

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has noted that the Kremlin is trying to create and show favourable conditions for attracting volunteers to serve in the army.

Source: ISW

Details: The ISW pointed out that "the Kremlin is attempting to establish favourable conditions to attract additional volunteers to serve in the Russian Armed Forces".

The Institute noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on mandatory state-provided life and health insurance for those who serve as volunteers and mobilised while participating in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, said the Russian Defence Ministry recruited more than 231,000 volunteers from January to July 2023, noting that Russia tends to "make contract service as prestigious as possible".

The BBC’s Russian service reported that the number of volunteers stated by Medvedev, if true, most likely does not just represent recruits among civilians, since the Russian Defence Ministry is recruiting personnel from the Wagner Group who have agreed to sign military contracts, as well as conscripts.

The ISW’s report noted that the Russian Defence Ministry is not providing equipment to Russian territorial defence units operating on Russia's western international border.

For example, one Russian milblogger noted that the Russian Defence Ministry had not provided fighters from the territorial defence units of Belgorod and Kursk oblasts with machine guns, offering them hunting rifles instead.

At the same time, according to ISW, a volunteer regiment consisting of at least 10 volunteer units and battalions has been formed in the Republic of Bashkortostan.

Regarding the Ukrainian counteroffensive, the ISW said Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations in at least three areas of the front on 3 August and reportedly advanced on some fronts.

In particular, they advanced on the Kupiansk-Svatove line, in the vicinity of Kreminna and in the western part of Donetsk Oblast.

Ukraine’s defence forces also continued counteroffensive operations on the Bakhmut front, but did not achieve any confirmed successes on 3 August. However, they witnessed certain success in the west of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

The ISW also suggested that Ukrainian forces are continuing to conduct limited attacks in the vicinity of the village of Robotyne.

The Institute has gathered information that the said Ukrainian forces continued to strike Russian rear areas in Donetsk Oblast on 2-3 August.

To quote the ISW's Key Takeaways on 3 August:

• Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations on at least three sectors of the front on 3 August and reportedly advanced in some areas.
• Russian forces conducted a series of drone strikes on 3 August, primarily targeting Kyiv.
• The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) took down Russian Airborne Forces (VDV) Commander Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky’s 2 August speech, possibly due to his disclosure of Russian casualties in Ukraine.
• Russian prosecutors reportedly classified the investigation into ardent Russian ultranationalist and former FSB officer Igor Girkin on 2 August.
• Russian forces conducted offensive operations along the Kupiansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, near Bakhmut, along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line, and in the western Donetsk-eastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast border area on 3 August and made advances in certain areas.
• Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations on at least three sectors of the front on 3 August and reportedly advanced near Kreminna and Vuhledar.
• The Kremlin is attempting to establish favourable conditions to attract additional volunteers to serve in the Russian Armed Forces.
• A report from Yale University’s Conflict Observatory supports ISW’s longstanding assessments that Russian and occupation authorities are using forced passportization measures to consolidate social and legal control over occupied areas of Ukraine.

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