Beyond the shrinking cadre of soldiers available to bolster Putin’s wars, Russia’s workforce is also being depleted. Last Tuesday, during the broadcast of the state TV show 60 Minutes, Dmitry Abzalov, Director of the Center for Strategic Communications, noted: “Our main problem, the limiting factor, is the absence of the workforce. Next year, our GDP may decrease because we are shorthanded.” Abzalov hinted that the workers were sent to the frontlines or moved to work in the factories producing weapons, equipment and ammunition for the military.
This is something I haven’t heard before. We know that 800,000 to 900,000 russians left russia since the russian invasion of Ukraine. It sounds like russia wants to/is planning to go outside russia and drag those people back in. I wonder what methods russia will use. As an example, does russia have some kind of extradition treaty with Georgia? Will russia use the north korean model of holding your family hostage and threatening their lives if you don’t come back?