Ukraine and Russia both need more soldiers
Who can train them faster?
Editor’s note (August 25th): After this article went to press Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, signed a decree increasing the authorised number of combat personnel in the Russian armed forces to 1.15m, a rise of 137,000. The Kremlin did not explain whether this would be done by increasing the size of Russia’s twice-yearly draft; by intensifying voluntary recruitment; or by incorporating militia from pro-Russian statelets in occupied Ukraine and mercenaries into the armed forces. The decree is aspirational. Russia’s army will continue to face serious manpower problems for the foreseeable future for the reasons we set out below.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The manpower race”
From the August 27th 2022 edition
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