The Russian state actively avoids a mass mobilization because such a measure would inflict a catastrophic blow on its fragile domestic economy. A new draft wave would instantly trigger a massive wave of panicked emigration as productive citizens choose to flee the country rather than fight. Removing hundreds of thousands of healthy men from the labor force would severely deplete the available human resources and accelerate economic collapse. Furthermore, the central bank has warned that withdrawing 500000 workers from the active labor market would result in an irreversible catastrophe for domestic industries.
There is also an insurmountable structural problem with running two completely different military forces simultaneously. One army consists of highly paid mercenaries while the other would consist of mobilized men who do not receive such financial compensation. This stark disparity in pay would create dangerous tensions and destroy cohesion within the combat zones. Even if the state attempts to force these mobilized men to sign contracts, it remains entirely unclear where the necessary funding would come from.
Many regional budgets within the Russian Federation already lack the necessary financial resources to pay basic contract bonuses. Beyond these severe economic and financial limitations, a massive draft of ground forces is entirely unnecessary for the execution of the current military doctrine. The strategic focus of the Kremlin has shifted away from traditional territorial troop advances toward systematic infrastructure warfare. The primary objective of the state has become the complete destruction of Ukraine by turning the major cities into uninhabitable ruins.
This campaign of aerial terror is designed to trigger a massive new migration crisis in Europe to break the domestic resolve of the population. By forcing the civilian population to choose between physical annihilation and absolute surrender, the Kremlin aims to achieve unconditional capitulation without relying on massive ground offensives. Therefore, the regime relies on demographic warfare and economic attrition, rendering traditional military mobilization completely obsolete. The autocratic leadership knows that continuing the war is a structural necessity for the survival of the regime, but the Kremlin will continue to avoid mass drafts to preserve internal stability.