Russia calls up 300,000 reservists, says 6,000 soldiers killed in Ukraine

Reuters ^ | September 21, 2022

[Kazan]

LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Russia will draft 300,000 reservists to support its military campaign in Ukraine, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday in televised remarks.

In Moscow's first update on casualty numbers in almost six months, Shoigu said 5,937 Russian soldiers had been killed since the start of the conflict.

President Vladimir Putin had ordered Russia's first mobilisation since World War Two in an early-morning television address, saying the additional manpower was needed to win a war against not only Ukraine but also its Western backers. read more

[PUGACHEV]

“Putin wouldn't be calling up 300,000 reservists if the losses were only 60,000. No doubt, it's way over 100,000”

The figure often quoted is 60,000 Russian dead to date in their Special Military Operation, and so special it is. If there are 60K dead, then the wounded, missing, and captured are likely three times that number, putting the total Russian casualties at well over 200,000. Calling up 300K reservists makes sense considering those figures. The bigger problem is equipment, as it is far easier to make cannon fodder than it is to make a canon. Putin cannot as easily call up 300K new tanks, rockets, or trucks.

[ought-six]

You probably never served in the military; and clearly kazan never did. Because there is a huge difference between reservists (the vast majority of whom are still back home, and until yesterday not even called up — and, at that, only a fraction of the total number) and battlefield reserves.

Kazan’s comment said RESERVISTS. That is what I responded to. The article YOU linked, spoke of RESERVES — battlefield reserves in the theater of operation. When a force goes into combat, there are always troops held back behind the line in reserve, to be moved “into line” or into the fight to fill a gap, to supplement a diminishing group, etc. It was THOSE reserves that your linked article addressed.

Again, there is a big difference between reservists in general and battlefield reserves, as one is back home, and the other is in the field and on scene.

[ought-six]

“It is well known that Ukraine is running a very professional media war.”

And Ukrainians are pikers in propaganda compared to the Russians, who are recognized masters of the art, and have been for about 100 years; though, they have slipped somewhat from the heyday of the Soviet Union (in fact, some of the contemporary efforts would embarrass the pros from the Soviet days).

[RonaldusMagnus-DonaldusMagnus]

As I mentioned in another Russia/Ukraine thread, pro-Ukraine/Zelensky and pro-vaxxine propagandists use the same formula:

If you dare question the vaxx, you are a heartless science-denier and complicit in killing grandma.

If you dare question the mainstream narrative on Russia/Ukraine, you are a heartless Putin lapdog complicit in killing Ukrainians.

[Allegra]

Exactly.

And a lot of the vax-pushers are also very vocal Zelensky fans.

[reformedliberal]

I am fully aware of your POV, as you are of mine.

Unfortunately, we both, along with the rest of the world, are going to be living with this maelstrom of manipulation for a very long time.

I’m at the tail end of my life, which was good up until zer0 and tolerable up until Biden, with an exceptional period between 2016 & 2020. Hopefully, you can say the same. If not, you can simply live with and enjoy what you promote.

I’m sure it will appear just as worth the effort in retrospect.

[laplata]

Yes, it is. They’ll get millions of us killed just to stay in power.

I’ve thought for a long time that they will pull off something big to prevent having the midterms. I hope a nuclear war isn’t it.

[ought-six]

“Unfortunately, we both, along with the rest of the world, are going to be living with this maelstrom of manipulation for a very long time.”

Propaganda and manipulation have been a part of the human experience since we first climbed down out of the trees and began to eat real food instead of insects. We’ve lived with it our entire lives. The trick is to try to sift through weeds and find the grain of fact.

I’m in my 70s, so I’m winding up my life, as well. I will continue to enjoy, because I am happy, no matter what the future brings. I will die knowing I have lived the life I wanted to.

[Chode]

6000-damn, they must have all been SuperMen if it takes 300,000 to replace them...

[EQAndyBuzz]

“You choose to believe that Russia has only lost 6,000 personnel.”

We only lost 3,500 in Afghanistan between 2001-2003. Why does 6,000 in less than a year seem so unreasonable? I do believe that Russia has many more wounded than they are reporting.

[BobL]

“However, I would not judge a nation’s armed forces on their cheapest economy car. I personally would love a no-frills car available to those of us who do not have to face city or Interstate travel. Something with few or no computer systems that can be repaired by the average shade-tree mechanic.”

ABSOLUTELY. We could punch out cars for $10k in our sleep, even with top-notch pollution controls (which really do work!). Add seat belts, optional air conditioning, and a few other basics and the cars would fly off the lots.

If the Neocons do get their way with WW3, we’ll likely have to restart society again, and maybe we’ll have cheap, basic, cars (for the 10% of the population still alive).

[BlackbirdSST]

Many of these people operate with child like minds. They couldn’t think themselves out of an open ended sack. I’ve called many of them leftist on the open forum. If you watch their response, they deflect, name call or otherwise just rant and repeat themselves but oddly enough, they don’t deny being leftist.

[BobL]

“If you dare question the mainstream narrative on Russia/Ukraine, you are a heartless Putin lapdog complicit in killing Ukrainians.”

It is a pattern that gives away these Deep Staters - they constantly launch PERSONAL ATTACKS at fellow FReepers, which anyone with some history here knows is not the case with legitimate conservatives. They will also post images and related matter meant to evoke an emotional response, something conservatives never do.

So it’s easy to recognize them.

[Dat]

You have to be kidding. According to the Putinphiles, anyone who opposes Russia’s invasion is a member of “Globalhomo”, or a Neo Nazi. Couple that with everything the Western media says is fake or propaganda, and everything the Russian government says is truth, and we are dealing with the clumsiest propagandists ever.

I have never seen a collection of greater morons than the Putinphiles. Either that or they are being paid by the Russian government, but are really just phoning it in.

[DoughtyOne]

six thousand killed

three hundred thousand mobilized

that sounds about right

gotta replace those 6,000

[zek157]

And Soros blockheads…

[reformedliberal]

Yep.

Neighbor has been eyeing our old, crapped-out truck. I suspect he intends to use it for parts. That is just the sort of thing I can envision.

Go, gearheads!

[adorno]

We only lost 3,500 in Afghanistan between 2001-2003. Why does 6,000 in less than a year seem so unreasonable?

Not quite the same kind of war.

In Afghanistan, we sought to displace the Taliban from power, which we did pretty fast, and after that, the war cooled down to a trickle, and the hot war was mostly a neighborhood by neighborhood, cleanup operation.

In the Ukraine war, Russia came in with all guns blasting, and the Ukrainians defended as hard as they could. But, it was and is a much hooter war than in Afghanistan. Russia started with about 200,000 troops amassed in the Ukraine border, and with hundreds of billions in equipment. Both sides in Ukraine are much better armed than the Taliban ever was. Both sides in Ukraine suffered a lot of casualties, and with Russia fighting in many fronts at the same time, the number of casualties would be many times that of the U.S. in Afghanistan.

When all is said and done, it's likely that Russia will have suffered more than 100,000 dead and perhaps as many as 200,000-300,000 injured. Hence, the call up of the reserves. Russia would not have to be desperate enough to call up their reserves, if they 'only' suffered 6,000 dead so far. Putin will never admit defeat and will never admit to suffering casualties in the hundreds of thousands. It will take somebody more truthful to shed light on the real numbers, and that somebody will have to displace Putin.

[WMarshal]

Biden and his administration lie about everything and only a fool would believe anything they say.

[RedMonqey]

If the war was going their way, I doubt Putin would be calling up 300,000 reservists or talking about using nukes.