Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the conscription of 160,000 into military service.

The decree, which was reported by news agency Interfax and also published on the government website for legal announcements, says conscription applies to all citizens aged between 18 and 30 and covers the period from April to July.

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[–] Tuuktuuk@sopuli.xyz 24 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (6 children)

Why do news media have to repeat this kind of weirdness:

Russian forces have slowly made territorial gains in Ukraine over the past but that has come at a cost.

What kind of "territorial gains" is it that during all of year 2024 the Russia managed to gain 0.7 percent of Ukraine's total area. Less than one percent! That is in no manner significant. Taking over 0.7 of a country's land means the frontline having frozen in place, not the country gaining territory.

And of course, if we take the events in Kursk province into account, the percentage gets even lower...

Also, this article says "will conscript", while in reality it is "wants to conscript". Putin can want whatever. Being able to get what it wants is a whole different question.

[–] floo@retrolemmy.com 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

They’re probably also counting the Russian land that the Russians reclaimed from the Ukrainians. You know, the land that Ukrainians invaded.

But there really wasn’t much of that, either.

[–] Tuuktuuk@sopuli.xyz 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

The 0.7 % considers only Ukrainian territory, and completely ignores everything that happened inside the Russia

In the end of 2024, Ukraine controlled an area in the Kursk province that equaled about 0.2 % of Ukraine's total territory. If that area was taken into account, the Russia's net territory gain would be about 0.5 % of Ukraine's total territory. At the peak of the Kursk province operation , Ukraine controlled about twice as big an area of the Kursk province as in the end, so an area equalling about 0.4 % of Ukraine's total territory and 4/7 of the area the Russia managed to temporarily gain from Ukraine.

(Edit: and, my understanding is that the 4200 km² does not contain the territories Russia reclaimed, but now I'm getting a bit unsure, as I don't remember the exact phrasing of the text telling how much area the Russia gained)

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