Putin Mobilizing Troops Won't Solve 5 Glaring Issues He Faces

As the Kremlin hints at a mass mobilization of Russian soldiers, one war expert said the effort "doesn't solve them anything" in attempts to win the war against Ukraine.

Dr. Mike Martin, a war studies visiting fellow at King's College London who operates the Threshed Thought account on Twitter, wrote a slew of tweets about the topic Wednesday morning.

Martin said even if Russia were to mobilize hundreds of thousands of potential soldiers, the effort would be too late and likely wouldn't lead to a successful outcome because of issues with logistics, dwindling equipment, a command structure that is too rigid and a lack of intelligence in Russian operations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to speak on the topic later Wednesday, after mobilization legislation was drafted Tuesday at the Duma, Russia's legislative body. Reports show Putin hasn't yet signed the legislation into law.

The first issue Martin addresses with potential mobilization is that Russia needs more soldiers now, not in the months it will take to adequately train new recruits. Even if Putin were to mobilize reservists, military expert and retired U.S. General Mark Hertling said they won't be equipped with uniforms, equipment or the training needed to go to war.

Russia has lost somewhere between 50,000 to 80,000 soldiers in the war against Ukraine, and the Kremlin has called for more people to fight, proposing academic leave for students who join the army and utilizing prisoners on the battlefield.

Martin wrote that even with more soldiers, Russia's dwindling equipment and limited logistics will serve as hurdles to winning the war. Russia has lost thousands of pieces of equipment in the war, and an Insider report showed that it was pulling older versions of tanks out of storage to use in place of more modern tanks destroyed in the war.

Martin said more soldiers won't change Russia's rigid command structure, which he calls "sclerotic," and it won't "integrate intelligence" into Russian operations.

Hertling said calls for mobilization would be another sign Putin is "backed into a corner." He told CNN that Putin has failed each phase of the war, and with Ukrainian forces conducting a strong offensive, Putin is forced to make decisions on Russia's next steps. Calling for mobilization would funnel thousands of untrained reservists between the ages of 18 and 60 into the ranks.

"[They] received training years or decades ago and don't have uniforms, equipment or the capability to conduct operations," Hertling said on CNN. "[Putin] is on his last legs and throwing out some things to get his population on his side, and I just don't think it's going to work."

Hertling, who trained thousands of U.S. soldiers, called Russia's attempts at training soldiers "awful." In a Twitter thread, Hertling recalled when he visited Russia's basic training site. In the past, Russian soldiers have received only "a few days" of training before deploying, according to Hertling.

Most U.S. soldiers receive 10 weeks of basic training, if not more for specialized units. Hertling said Russian soldiers lacked rifle qualification, had only "rudimentary" first-aid skills, went through "very few" simulations on how to conserve resources and were prone to horrible leadership.

"The issue is the Russian army is poorly led & poorly trained," Hertling tweeted. "That starts in basic training, and doesn't get better during the RU solder's time in uniform. Mobilizing 300k 'reservists' ... will be extremely difficult."

One Forbes article explained that the mobilization could hasten Putin's loss in the war. The article expounded on Martin's predictions, saying that thousands of new troops would lack adequate instructors, leaders and equipment. It said the untrained soldiers would be sent into Ukraine underequipped and poorly led, which would more than likely lead to those soldiers surrendering, deserting or dying rather than fighting and winning the war.

"The move is designed for domestic consumption in Russia. Putin is taking some heat from his right flank for the recent rout of the Russian military," Martin tweeted. "The head bangers have been calling for a national mobilisation ... and so here 'it' is."

Newsweek reached out to Hertling, Martin and the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.