Russia's Mobilization Issues Showing 'Systematic Weakness' of Military: ISW

Mistakes made in the aftermath of Russian President Vladimir Putin's partial mobilization decree show the "systemic weakness" of Russia's military, a U.S.–based think tank said in its latest analysis of the Ukraine war.

The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) made the assessment after Putin said in a rare admission Thursday that "all mistakes" made in in efforts to mobilize should be corrected.

Since Putin declared a partial mobilization on September 21, multiple reports have emerged of ineligible men being called up for military service.

"In the course of this mobilization, many questions are coming up, and all mistakes must be corrected and prevented from happening in the future," the Russian leader said in his opening remarks at the Russian Security Council meeting on Thursday.

He also said anyone who was drafted despite not meeting the criteria set by defense officials "must be sent home."

The ISW said the Kremlin continues to violate its stated partial mobilization procedures and contradict its own messaging even while recognizing the systematic failures within the Russian bureaucracy.

Putin "acknowledged and deflected the blame for repeated 'mistakes' during the first week of mobilization" and "recounted instances of mobilizing men without prior military experience, assigning servicemen to the wrong specializations, and unfairly mobilizing men with health conditions or large families," the think tank said in its assessment.

The ISW also said the Kremlin's contradictory statements and procedures "demonstrate the fundamental nature of the systemic weakness of the Russian military establishment that have characterized the entire invasion."

Putin's conscription order supposedly targets reservists and ex-military personnel with "certain military specialties and relevant experience."

But Russian students have also been mistakenly handed summons to serve in Ukraine in at least one region.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, which is located near the Russian border with Ukraine, said the cohort were mistakenly included in the initial conscription efforts during the first days of Putin's partial mobilization order. He said they would be returned home.

Gladkov also said that Belgorod authorities had helped another 75 local residents who were mistakenly called up, including students and those in jobs important for the economy and the region.

The official said he hopes Belgorod authorities won't "make any more mistakes."

Neil Melvin, director of International Security Studies at British defense and security think tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), told Newsweek that Russia's mobilization effort looks like "a desperate attempt" to boost its forces in Ukraine.

Russia's military is at its "weakest" since the war began and is "vulnerable to being overrun or collapsing in some parts of the front in the face of the Ukrainian counter-offensive," Melvin said.

Putin's mobilization efforts have "come too late to stem further Ukrainian advances" and highlight "the hollowness of Russia's armed forces, including the disorganization and lack of preparedness in the mobilization system across the country," he added.

Justin Bronk, senior research fellow at RUSI, said Putin's partial mobilization of the population has come "far too late to meaningfully improve Russia's perilous position on the frontlines in Ukraine."

"If Russia had mobilized in March, when it was clear that the initial attack on Kyiv had failed to produce a quick victory, then new units formed from conscripted troops might now be approaching combat readiness," he told Newsweek.

"Thanks to the overstretch of regular units and the very heavy casualties taken, the instructors and officers who would normally be used to train up new conscripts are now mostly stuck on the frontline in Ukraine or are casualties," Bronk said.

He added that it will now take much longer for Russia to deploy combat-ready soldiers and formations created from newly mobilized conscripts than it would normally have.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's foreign ministry for comment.