Podcast host Alex Gabuev is joined by Janis Kluge, deputy head of the Eastern Europe and Eurasia research team at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, to discuss the Russian military recruitment machine, a possible new mobilization wave, and the state of the Kremlin’s war chest.
Amid mounting rumors that a new mobilization wave in Russia will follow the State Duma elections in September, there are a lot of questions over Russian military recruitment. How successful is it? How deep is the well of Russian manpower, and what are the Kremlin’s most efficient tools for tapping into it? How can independent experts outside of Russia access and credibly analyze recruitment data in a country that guards all war-related information with a veil of secrecy and censorship?
Check out Janis's Substack here.