Russia forms so-called volunteer battalions to participate in the invasion war in Ukraine.

This was reported by CNN.

The Russian invaders want to replenish the military exhausted in five months of fighting and replace those who were eliminated by the Ukrainian defenders.

According to analysts, more than 30,000 so-called “volunteers” can be mobilized to join the ranks of Russian invaders deployed in the eastern Donbas.

Last week, Richard Moore, Chief of UK’s secret intelligence service MI6, told a CNN’s journalist that “over the next few weeks Russians will find it increasingly difficult to replenish manpower and supplies.”

Putin has long resisted the idea of a general mobilization in Russia, and this spring’s recruitment was similar to the one in ​​2021.

So-called “volunteer battalions” are a way to increase the size of the Russian army without taking drastic steps. Calls to join them are mainly focused on poorer and more isolated regions of the Russian Federation, where you can seduce people with “easy money.”

The question of whether these battalions can impact the battlefield situation remains open. It is alleged that Chechen volunteer units played a significant role in the Donbas campaign, especially in Mariupol. But they are relatively well equipped and have extensive military experience. Battalions that recruit elsewhere are clearly not on par with them, CNN noted.

Kateryna Stepanenko, the Russia researcher at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington, says recruitment of so-called volunteers is guided from Moscow.

“The Kremlin reportedly ordered all 85 Russian federal subjects (regions of the Russian Federation plus occupied Crimea and Sevastopol) to recruit volunteer battalions, trying to avoid declaring partial or full mobilization in Russia,” Stepanenko said.

At the same time, a recruitment campaign like this places a heavy strain on regional budgets, which are supposed to fund it.

Conditions for joining volunteer battalions differ from region to region. According to reports, recruits usually get about a month of training before deployment.