"Escalation is Inevitable": Kremlin is Assessing the Possibility of a New Mobilization - The Russian Dude

[TexasTowelie]

The Kremlin is facing a crisis it can no longer hide. Behind closed doors and across pro-war Telegram channels, discussions are shifting from victory celebrations to quiet panic. Russia’s offensive has failed to deliver the symbolic breakthrough Putin needed. The military is losing more soldiers than it can replace, and the promises of high salaries and contract bonuses no longer convince anyone. Families are seeing the truth in the most painful form: sealed zinc coffins and unpaid compensation. Recruitment has stalled. Forced enlistment is spreading. The so-called “silent mobilization” is already happening in the streets, workplaces, and border checkpoints.

Now, the Kremlin is trapped. To continue the war, the army needs new manpower. But another large-scale mobilization risks mass unrest, panic, and a political crisis Putin may not be able to control. Yet avoiding mobilization means losing the war, losing territory, and losing power. Russia’s economy has already been restructured into a war machine that only functions as long as soldiers keep being sent to the front. Ending the war would collapse the system, but prolonging it only deepens the eventual damage.

This is the moment where the Kremlin realizes that time is no longer working in its favor. The illusion of control is slipping. The illusion of victory is fading. And the possibility of a new mobilization is no longer a rumor — it’s becoming inevitable.