New Russian conscripts have had “very, very limited training” and will be using extremely “poor equipment”, said a Western official, after Vladimir Putin said the call-up of reservists will be over in two weeks.
Hundreds of thousands of Russian men have been summoned to fight in Ukraine in an unpopular mobilisation that has seen huge numbers flee the country.
Putin ordered the mobilisation three weeks ago, part of a response to Russian battlefield defeats. He has also proclaimed the annexation of four partially occupied Ukrainian provinces and threatened to use nuclear weapons if Russian territory is attacked.
