Former CIA Director Assessed Whether Mobilization Will Help Putin Achieve His Goals

Even a new wave of mobilization is unlikely to allow the Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to achieve his military objectives, despite Russia's superiority in human resources and the economy. This is especially evident given that Putin fears ending the war without capturing Donbas and is therefore preparing a large-scale call-up. In the opinion of former CIA Director David Petraeus, the recruitment of another 100-200 thousand soldiers will not change the situation even at the tactical level. He said this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

The former CIA director noted that Russia has five times more human resources than Ukraine, and its economy is twelve times larger than Ukraine's, according to RBC-Ukraine. Despite this superiority, according to Petraeus, it does not guarantee victory for the Kremlin.

"So will they win? Not necessarily," said former CIA Director David Petraeus.

According to him, Ukrainian innovations on the front hinder Russians from achieving their goals and inflict devastating blows on their infrastructure. Petraeus drew attention to the fact that Ukrainian troops consistently destroy Russia's air defense and anti-missile systems, and this is being done by a commander with the callsign "Madjar" and the fighters of Special Operations Center "A."

"And when these facilities become vulnerable or their defense is weakened, opportunities for Ukrainians will increase," the former CIA director noted.

At the same time, Petraeus acknowledged that a war of attrition is gaining momentum now. He said that in the first two to three years of the war, the United States provided the main support to Ukraine, whereas now the European countries and the European Commission play the leading role: the European Union has allocated 90 billions of euros in emergency assistance for Ukraine's financial and economic situation, and some states continue to supply equipment, in particular air defense and anti-missile systems. The former CIA director added that a sanctions package by Senator Lindsey Graham, if promptly enacted by the U.S. House of Representatives, could pressure Russia's economy further.

Mobilization will not bring the Kremlin closer to Sloviansk.

According to Petraeus, at some point Putin must realize that mobilization of another 100-200 thousand soldiers will not allow him to achieve even tactical goals, for example in Donbas.

"He didn't even reach fortified towns. They didn't reach Sloviansk," the former CIA director David Petraeus noted.

According to him, Russian forces are trying to prove otherwise by all possible means, but that does not reflect reality. The former CIA director also noted the decision of Commander of the Ukrainian Defense Forces General Mykhailo Dyrpatylo to reorganize military units into groups and said he spoke with one of the future commanders of such groups.

"So, okay, they still have 100-200 thousand. Does this guarantee some success? No," summed up the former CIA director David Petraeus.

Earlier, Informator reported that a new wave of forced mobilization is being prepared in the occupied part of Donetsk region, and the so-called "head of the DNR" Denis Pushilin ordered to control this process by a new "First Deputy Prime Minister." According to The Economist, Putin is preparing mobilization of from 300 to 400 thousand people, and illegal conscription in the occupied territories may begin right after the sham elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation.

We also wrote that the pace of recruiting contract soldiers into the Russian army in 2026 year is decreasing despite record payments to recruits: from January to August, about 234 thousand Russians signed contracts, which is 10% less than last year, and Russian regions are resorting to forced conscription to compensate for the shortage of volunteers.