With Russia reportedly preparing to launch what looks like a major winter offensive in its war against Ukraine, the Russian government has reportedly been engaging in aggressive tactics in order to get people to sign up to fight.
According to an Al Jazeera report this week, there have been recent reports about “press-ganging” in the town of Penza, Southeast of Moscow.
Putin On June 1 2026 Creative Commons Image
Putin in June of 2026 Image Credit Russian Federation
This has entailed, per the report, social media videos of “individuals dressed in plainclothes trying to force fighting-age men into vehicles to take them to the recruitment centre, while weeping women try to intervene.”
There are also reports of men summoned to police stations under false pretenses, and then threatened, sometimes at the point of violence, into signing up for the military.
Local Russian authorities, however, have denied the charges, claiming that such tactics are only used for men who dodge the draft.
Oleg Ignatov, senior Russia analyst at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera that what’s happening in Penza is likely not a national effort, but rather “isolated instances of local authorities trying to fill their recruitment quotas.”
But Mikhail Liberov, of the Conscientious Objectors Movement, told Al Jazeera that Russia makes a practice of choosing the “right targets who, for one reason or another, are vulnerable to seduction, deception, blackmail, or are simply unaware of their actions.” These include, Liberov told the outlet, drug addicts, alcoholics, and “mentally unwell people.”
Another tactic? Blackmail.
“Then comes the threat of prison: A man arrested for petty hooliganism might be intimidated by the idea that, say, ‘We’ll plant drugs on you and put you in prison for 12 years,’ and many agree to sign contracts,” Liberov told Al Jazeera.
A New Order?
Whether or not the reports out of that Russian town are typical, multiple reports in recent weeks say Russia is looking to step up recruitment, and possibly expand conscription as well
Citing the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, United 24 Media reported in early August that Russia has seen a slowdown in voluntary recruitment and is therefore “laying the technical and administrative groundwork to bolster its mobilization readiness.”
Despite strong financial incentives, fewer Russians are volunteering to fight.
Per that intelligence report, 200,000 people signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defence in the year that ended in June of this year, with 16,000 more of them joining volunteer units.
The numbers, the report said, “mark an official decline of 5% to 11% compared to the same period in 2025.”
As a result, Russia has “expanded administrative infrastructure linked to military conscription.”
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Russia is testing readiness for a new round of mobilization.
The report cited Western intelligence officials, who stated that Russian military officials recently traveled to Kaliningrad in order to oversee “readiness planning and procedures for a mobilization of the region’s residents, with details on how to house, feed and arm them.”
The report said it was one of many such planning sessions taking place across the country.
Will such a major mobilization, the first for Russia since 2022, succeed?
“I don’t think it’ll prove decisive for Russia, and it’s actually too late this year, but it could be a factor for 2027,” Michael Kofman, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, told The Journal.
“If they have concrete timetables for objectives they want to accomplish this year, like seizing the rest of the Donbas, then they should have mobilized several months ago.”
The Journal added that while most of Russia’s military recruitment is voluntary, “authorities are increasingly using strong-arm tactics, manipulation and even violence to boost numbers at the front.”
Will There Be a Winter Offensive?
Speculation in recent months has suggested that Vladimir Putin will launch a winter offensive later this year, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s push for new interceptors from allies often predicated on the need to repel one.
“Putin will wait for the winter again to resume the large-scale strikes and create a humanitarian crisis to get concessions in the Donbas issue,” Maria Snegovaya, a senior fellow with the CSIS, told the New York Post.
Liberov, in speaking to Al Jazeera, also predicted a winter offensive this year is likely unless the war somehow ends before then.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
