Russia was expanding its mobilisation reserves and planned to recruit around 90,000 personnel for the war in Ukraine, Ukrainian military-intelligence representative Vadym Skibitskyi said on August 28, 2022.
He described efforts involving volunteer and reserve battalions and BARS, the Russian combat army reserve system, with formations being assembled across military districts.
Skibitskyi said Russia was facing significant staffing difficulties, declining morale among troops and fewer people willing to sign military contracts. He also claimed anxiety was spreading in large cities over the prospect of service. These were Ukrainian intelligence assessments, not independently verified measures of Russian public opinion.
The 90,000 figure concerned an assessed recruitment plan. It did not establish that that number had already been enlisted or deployed, and should not be confused with the later September mobilisation announcement. LB.ua's contemporaneous coverage supports the inaccessible original NV report.
