from AcidiclyBasicGlitch@sh.itjust.works to world@lemmy.world on 10 Aug 01:12
https://sh.itjust.works/post/43774536
Early in the war, the balance was radically different. In the lead-up to the full-scale invasion in 2022, Russia’s army had about 1 million troops, with some 150,000 - 190,000 concentrated along Ukraine’s borders with Russia and Belarus.
At the time, Ukraine’s military had some 260,000 in active service, but the country mobilized up to 700,000 men by mid-summer, handing it a manpower advantage over the invading Russian forces, who had by then been expelled from the Kyiv region. Russia was forced to conduct a “partial mobilization” of about 300,000 reservists to stabilize the front line after yielding thousands of square kilometers of territory in eastern Ukraine.
In 2023, Russian recruitment picked up, introducing thousands of prison inmates to the army as well as mercenary groups like the infamous Wagner private military company and offering significant sign-up bonuses to volunteers. Ukraine, on the other hand, was struggling to find new recruits to replace losses. As analysts from the investigative group, the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) observed, this was the year that momentum shifted in Moscow’s favor, as Russia’s recruitment drive neutralized Ukraine’s manpower advantage while Kyiv faced mounting difficulties replenishing its ranks.
In 2025, according to The Military Balance, an annual assessment of military capabilities worldwide, Russia’s numbers of active-duty personnel reached over 1.13 million – with Syrskiy claiming that some 640,000 of them were on Ukrainian territory, a figure echoed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. While Ukraine’s total troop strength is officially over 1 million, the Warsaw-based Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) says not more than 300,000 of them are deployed on the front lines.
Russia Recruiting More Than Ukraine According to the OSW, Ukraine needs to recruit some 300,000 soldiers to replenish its brigades, some of which are only at 30 percent strength. Last year, it managed 200,000, a number that “proved insufficient to maintain unit strength at an adequate level” given “the scale of desertions and personnel losses,” the OSW report says. Currently, Ukraine is estimated to recruit 17,000 to 24,000 people per month, or between 204,000 and 288,000 per year.
While it has had to increase its sign-up bonuses, Russian recruitment is estimated to have increased to a rate of about 30,000 per month –- an advantage of roughly 70-150,000 per year.
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To be fair, the soldiers Russia recruits are ill prepared and clueless.
Yes, but quantity has a quality of its own.
During the war yes. After the war the demographic fallout for Russia and for Ukraine will be catastrophic.
Also true, however, unfortunately, that is almost never a concern DURING the war.
Sounds philosophical. I agree, Just saying, those numbers don’t mean Russia has much of an advantage.
In other more confusing terms: Ukraine has quality in its quantity while Russia has more quantity which gives quality itself, though the quantity consists of bad quality. This makes the general quality not be too different.
Do you think random Ukrainians become Rembo-Terminators after a few weeks on the polygon?
No, but they are actually trained and know how the tech or weapons work.
I doubt that Russians have less or worse training. Shooting a few hundred bullets and a few grenades from an RPG won’t make you a soldier. Yes, I know how it works. At least on the Ukrainian side. The only nice thing we had – an unexpectedly large amount of time on field medicine.
Russia allegedly just takes civilians and sends them to the battlegrounds, with 0 training. Ukrainian soldiers actually go through training, and in high quality. I heard Ukraine outsources their training to NATO countries like Norway, setting a precedent to quality.
That sounds like a cheap propaganda cliché. Completely unbelievable. Most probably based on a few standalone anecdotes. Or maybe just a lie.
Yes, some people have their training in Europe (England mostly, never heard about Norway, but that’s an unimportant detail). However, this is primarily intended for officers and sturm troops. Trench infantry is neglected.
Part 1: MANY sources say this, not much valid counter sources.
Part 2: Infantry still has to go through a decent amount of training and are sent to more safe zones at first. You can’t say that this is “Propaganda”, because I have heard from relatives in Ukraine who have been recruited.
Well, continue to believe in whatever you want. My practice shows a completely different picture.
How was it? Did you go through the basic training? Did you end up fighting? Sounds awful man
Exactly. There are also more and more articles describing how Russia tricks foreigners into coming to Russia for non-existent jobs then forcibly sends them to the front lines. It’s probably a safe bet that the training of such “recruits” boils down to a threat that they’ll be shot by the Russians if they attempt to retreat.
You’ve been seeing this from their combat footage for over a year.
Troop movements almost always consist of less than a dozen people, and often less than half a dozen. Even lone troops moving about by foot or on bikes of some variety are seen. When heavy equipment like tanks are employed they are often alone, maybe paired with one or two partners.
You could make the argument that heavy use of unmanned drone and satellite recon makes larger troop buildups risky, but it feels like Ukraine and Russia both are hurting for competent infantry and they simply do not have enough to spread around the front to do any better. Because the way the fighting is happening now kind of flies in the face of modern combined arms doctrine.