Russia’s recent surprise offensive in the Kursk region has exposed a strategic dilemma for the Kremlin.
Despite sending reinforcements, Ukraine has made significant gains, forcing Russia to consider whether to further deplete its invasion force in Ukraine or to deploy new conscripts.
Until now, Russia has avoided sending regular recruits to the frontline in Ukraine, opting to deploy only contract soldiers.
However, the Kursk offensive has disrupted this delicate political balance.
Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the potential political backlash of sending conscripts to Ukraine early in the invasion.
In response to concerns from mothers of enlisted men, he stated that conscript soldiers would not be involved in hostilities.
However, the FSB has been enrolling conscripts in border regions, a move that remains legally controversial.
Following the Ukrainian incursion, mothers of conscripts began to complain that their sons were being sent into active combat.
A Chechen special forces volunteer battalion commander, Apty Alaudinov, criticized the “sobs and outbursts” of these mothers, emphasizing that those who die defending Russia will go to heaven.
Putin has remained silent on the issue of conscript deployment, leaving the Kremlin’s next move uncertain.
