Russia scraps age limit for new troops in Ukraine push

[groundloop]

Source: BBC

President Vladimir Putin has signed a law enabling people over 40 to enlist for the armed forces. They are expected to be people of normal working age.

Previously the army had age limits of 18-40 years for Russians and 18-30 for foreigners.

Russia is presenting it as a move to recruit more technical specialists.

The new law says specialists are required to operate high-precision weapons and "experience shows that they become such by the age of 40-45". More medics, engineers and communications experts may also be recruited.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61619638

[Salviati]

1. "high-precision weapons"

like the 60 year old tanks they're pulling out of mothballs...

[sdfernando]

2. That's why the need the older guys

The young ones have no experience with “analog” machines.

[AZ8theist]

19. Sure, Vlad, get 60 somethings involved in the fight....

I'm 60 something and I have a hard time putting on my shoes.
But, sure, those dudes will have a fine time in combat.

Is there anything more pathetic than Putin at this point?

Of course, there's Doturd, but he was always too fucking stupid to be anything of consequence....

[BigmanPigman]

3. Soon he'll need to get troops the way Hitler did...

Take everyone between 16 and 60.

[sarcasmo]

4. It's going so well, Grandpa here is your military gear.

[Historic NY]

5. The NAZIs did that taking old men and little boys, sounds like Putin is running out of fresh hamburg

sounds like Putin is running out of fresh hamburger.

[no_hypocrisy]

11. Right before the Fall of Berlin

[lapfog_1]

20. Al Stewart - Roads to Moscow

Ah, quickly we move through the ruins that bow to the ground
The old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us down
And all that I ever
Was able to see
The eyes of the city are opening
Now it's the end of the dream

[blue-wave]

6. Russia is losing so many on the battle field and

off the battle field (desertions or refusal to fight) that they are resorting to policy changes to boost their troop counts. These older enlistees will be used as cannon fodder just like the 18 year olds that were told it was just a military practice exercise. And remember, Pooty labels his war a "special military operation" so he doesn't have to pay out the death and dismemberment benefits, per Russian law, if it was declared a real war.

The Russians need to rise up en masse to rid themselves of this evil.


In the link: New Punishments Await Russian Defectors as Putin Grows Alarmed Over Ukraine

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016323625

[cstanleytech]

9. Problem is even if they would rise up nothing would change unless at the same time they did it

to Putin's supporters as they would simply move into the vacuum that would be created by Putin suddenly not needing to use oxygen.

[Starfury]

7. Russia wants more soldiers? They can't even equip them now...

Russian soldiers preparing to be sent to fight in Ukraine are required to buy personal equipment at their own expense, according to several servicemen who spoke to The Moscow Times’ Russian Service on condition of anonymity.

Some of the items apparently not provided by the army include footwear, body armor, bandages and tourniquets.

(...)

'We Have to Buy Everything’: Russian Soldiers Under-Equipped In Ukraine War

[Stuart G]

8. They are getting into their own "Viet Nam" War & they haven't got a clue.

Yes, the Russians can send in thousands more troops, or tens of thousands, but it is unlikely to end well
for anyone....Putin thinks he can win, but so did Johnson & Nixon. Maybe Putin will win for a time, but
in the end, it will get worse and worse. That is my opinion. It is the way things often work.

Wait..............the U.S. was once 13 colonies...How did that work out for...England"

[OnlinePoker]

16. They already had that in Afghanistan.

This is Russia's war against the west with Ukrainian soldiers as proxies for NATO troops using western equipment. Russia is still using Soviet era blunt force, top down tactics. Ukraine began to adopt western battlefield tactics after the 2014 Russian invasion of Crimea, but the upper echelon in the Ukrainian military is still stuck with Soviet ideas of fighting so haven't been as quick to adapt in some areas as they might have been if they had more time to train with western instructors. Big problem in Ukraine is the disadvantage they have against Russian artillery. Russia has a 20 to 1 advantage and, with the Orlan drones, have started getting better at directing their strikes. M777s are a big aid to Ukraine, but the numbers aren't sufficient enough to dent many Russian positions.

[Beastly Boy]

10. A perfectly logical decree.

Since Russia is now sending 45 year old obsolete T-64 tanks to the war zone (https://news.yahoo.com/russia-pulling-old-obsolete-tanks-155144938.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall), who is better prepared to drive them with no additional training than 65 year old Russians?

[orangecrush]

12. Ukraine replies..

From "Fury"...

[SWBTATTReg]

24. Very appropriate! I wonder how many old timers will take up the cause for Putin, and

basically, just go to their deaths? Like one DU poster said, when you get to 60+ years old, and it becomes a chore to tie your shoes, perhaps you shouldn't volunteer?

Oh well, more target practice for Ukraine.

[Brother Buzz]

25. There's something nostalgic about rolling into war in a tank that was built the year you were born

Putin sends previously mothballed T-62 tanks into Ukraine war

Vladimir Putin is sending previously mothballed 50-year-old T-62 tanks into Ukraine after losing nearly 1,000 of the heavily armoured vehicles, say western defence chiefs.

They stressed that the T-62 tanks had been taken out of "deep storage" to be deployed into southern Ukraine where Russian troops are seeking to occupy seized territory.

But the ageing vehicles are expected to be "particularly vulnerable" to anti-tank weapons.

The decision to deploy them was said to highlight "Russia's shortage of modern, combat-ready equipment".

[orangecrush]

28. Lend - Lease Shermans

From WW2 are next.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-Lease_Sherman_tanks

[orangecrush]

27. I'm 64

And I know exactly what you're talking about!

[OnDoutside]

13. I think that the big elephant in the room is his unwillingness to

declare a war, which would open it up to conscription. It is significant.

[Evolve Dammit]

14. Smells like fear of losing

[sakabatou]

15. They're going to hide actual kids, aren't they?

[Bayard]

17. Are you breathing?

Here's your uniform and gun!

[C Moon]

18. What idiot of any age would enlist in that freak's army?

[COL Mustard]

22. People who have experience with war

And love it. In other words, psychopaths.

[COL Mustard]

21. Coming soon to a Theatre of War near YOU.....

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Grandpa Brigades! It'll go as well as the rest of the Russian Army.

[AZLD4Candidate]

23. His supply of young, moldable cannon fodder must be running thin

He needs older cannon fodder that might have more important things to do that die in a quagmire.

He will implement conscription soon. Then the fragging begins.

[sarcasmo]

26. Self Delete