Russians from conscript to POW in matter of days

 Streiff:

...

The Ukrainian government also set up a phone number that Russians could call to arrange their safe surrender. But, much to their surprise, they got calls from Russians who’d received a conscription notice but had not yet been inducted into the army.

Instead of getting at least two weeks of training, many are sent immediately to the front. There are reports of Russian troop trains being hit by artillery fire while on the way to their destinations. Mobilized soldiers have already started turning up as prisoners.

While I have no insight into Putin’s strategy, it is clear that time and regime stability are two key factors. Shipping off 300,000 men to almost certain death or captivity in Ukraine will buy him some time. They may be little more than a collection of bollards and speedbumps, but they can fill the gaping holes in some units, and some percentage will turn out to be competent soldiers. To what end is Putin buying time? I can’t hazard a guess. If, as expected, he announces on Friday that he has annexed about a fifth of Ukraine, there is no longer any ground for negotiations that doesn’t involve the deck of the USS Missouri; see Russia’s Friends and Allies Join NATO in Rejecting Russia’s Imminent Annexation of Four Ukrainian Provinces.

...

There is much more.

The mobilization appears as incoherent as other aspects of Putin's war.  The chances are that it will be just as disastrous. 

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