Those who do not want to hand soldiers over to Putin’s winter

Defending against war whilst preparing for another. The Kremlin leader, Vladimir Putin, said yesterday that Ukrainian drones in Russia are incapable of inflicting significant damage on Russian infrastructure; at the same time, he ordered the government to assist in the reconstruction of the warehouses belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, which has been targeted by Ukrainian drones on the grounds that it is accused of facilitating the transport of military equipment. Russians do not want to be without Wildberries, not only because it provides many jobs and its crisis is an economic problem, but also because, just like Amazon, it has accustomed Russians to a service that nobody wants to do without. Some individuals have recorded videos, in tears, asking the president to find a solution to protect Wildberries. The Ukrainians are striking at Russia to force Putin to make peace, and given that the Kremlin leader is preparing for another war, they have no reason to stop sending drones against infrastructure vital to Moscow’s economy and war machine. There are many signs that Putin has no intention of sitting down at the negotiating table; the first concerns the possibility of a new mobilisation that could begin in the coming months and be used for the massive offensive that the Russian army intends to launch in the Donetsk region. Russia does not seek soldiers solely from within its own borders; in recent years, Africa has also been a source from which to draw manpower, but there are countries that are beginning to take issue with this practice by Moscow. Ghana, for example, has called for an end to the ‘illegal recruitment’ of its citizens, and whilst Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa was on a visit to Moscow, he stated that at least sixty-two Ghanaians had been killed in Ukraine and fifteen are still missing. His Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, replied that the Ghanaian citizens had signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defence out of “solidarity with a country that has helped them fight racism” and also for material and financial reasons. Investigations have revealed the existence of agencies in Russia that work with poorer countries to promote the idea of easy money through relatively low-risk roles within the Russian army; then, once the contract – written exclusively in Russian – has been signed, the new soldiers are sent for a short period of training and then straight to the front line. There is no time to have second thoughts and often not even time to see any pay. According to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia has set itself the target of recruiting over 18,500 foreigners by 2026 and, according to the latest statements from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, there are 1,780 Africans fighting alongside the Russians.

According to the contracts, all foreign nationals are volunteers and professional soldiers are rarely among the signatories. Only North Koreans under dictator Kim Jong Un have been trained and sent to Russia to learn how to fight in the field. Putin knows that his key advantage in Ukraine lies in the sheer number of men he can deploy. This winter, by combining mobilised Russians with foreign fighters he has attracted, he is attempting to bolster the strength of the Russian army.