Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is issuing a warning a about new wave of Russian troops heading for the front lines.
Alongside Finish President Alexander Stubb, Zelesnkyy claimed on Wednesday that Russia plans to mobilize 300,000 new troops by June 1, days after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to conscript 150,000 citizens into his war effort.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes Russia will mobilize 300,000 additional troops by June 1 and said so during a joint press conference with Finish President Alexander Stubb.
"I can say that Russia is preparing to mobilize 300,000 additional troops by June 1," Zelenskyy said. Ukrainian military intelligence is predicting that Russia will ramp up its mobilization efforts after Russian President Vladimir Putin won a fifth term in office in March in what many called a "fixed" election.
The UK Defense Ministry believes Russia is recruiting approximately 30,000 people a month to boost its war effort.
Ukraine is also looking to mobilize troops as well and has updated a mobilization bill currently being considered in parliament. Back in December, Zelenskyy said that the original mobilization bill called for up to 500,000 additional conscripts.
Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on March 29 that this number has been "significantly reduced."
"We don't need half a million. The corresponding number that was not at the front - they will be at the front. As for the exact number, I am not ready to say how many will be mobilized," Zelenskyy said."I can say that Russia is preparing to mobilize an additional 300,000 troops on June 1," he added.
The Kremlin reportedly has said their new troops would not be sent to Ukraine, but analysts balk at that notion.
According to Andrii Kharuk, a professor at Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Ground Forces Academy, conscripts can be pressured or forced to sign contracts with the Russian army to make them eligible to be sent to the front line.
"They will put pressure on these young guys. And after signing the contracts they can be used as 'gun meat.' But not many of them are going to do this because even in the Russian regions people already know how bloody the war is here, so I think they will get about 20-25 percent of conscripts to sign contracts," Kharuk told Kyiv Post.
Krotenko wrote: "If the conscript ignores it for seven days, he becomes a criminal with all the penalties - such as fines, sanctions on operations with real estate, prohibition from holding a driver's license, etc."
Analysts also believe that Russia will use the recent terrorist attack claimed by the Islamic State to bolster its ranks and stock patriotism in the war against Ukraine.
"In Moscow and other Russian cities, the number of people willing to enlist in the Russian Armed Forces under contract has significantly increased," the Russian Defense Ministry posted on Telegram, on April 3.
