Dmitry Peskov made the appeal on Tuesday, telling Russians to rely on government communications, the ISW said in its latest report on the war in Ukraine.
The US experts reported: “Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov on December 6 urged Russians to rely on communications from the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) and the president and to ignore the ‘provocative messages’ published on social media platforms such as Telegram regarding a second wave of mobilization.”
According to the ISW, Peskov’s statement had been designed “to manage growing societal concern and recentralize information about the war with the Russian government and its authorized outlets.”
Moreover, Peskov’s words are “likely aimed at discrediting the growing influence of both Russian opposition and pro-war Telegram channels that have been consistently reporting on indicators of the Kremlin’s intention to resume mobilization in 2023,” the US think tank said.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is “also increasing measures to prevent mobilized men and their families from complaining about mobilization problems,” the ISW reported.
The US experts said that Putin “signed a law banning rallies in government buildings, universities, schools, hospitals, ports, train stations, churches, and airports—likely to suppress riots and protests among mobilized men and their families.”
Constraints on Russian military power
According to the ISW, Russia’s defence ministry “can only simultaneously train about 130,000 conscripts during a bi-annual conscription cycle in peacetime and has struggled painfully to prepare a larger number of mobilized men over a shorter period.”
The Washington-based think tank assessed that whether Putin’s orders a second wave of mobilisation, general mobilisation, or announces “a formal declaration of war with Ukraine,” such moves “will not fix the inherent constraints on Russian military power available for the war in Ukraine in the short term.”
New supply of drones, ballistic missiles from Iran?
Meanwhile, according to diplomatic sources at the United Nations, Russia has ordered hundreds more drones and ballistic missiles from Iran, Polish state news agency PAP reported on Wednesday.
Iran plans to substantially increase deliveries of unmanned aerial vehicles and rockets to Russia, according to the UN diplomats, who asked not to be named.
News outlets earlier reported that Russia had run out of the Iranian-made Shahed-136 “kamikaze drones” and the Mohajer-6 UAVs, and did not use them in this week’s bombardment of Ukraine, PAP said.
On Wednesday morning, Ukraine’s General Staff reported that the country’s air defences had shot down 17 Russian drones, adding that the number included 14 Iranian Shahed-136 UAVs, the Ukrainska Pravda website reported.
Ukraine free to develop long-range strike capability: Pentagon
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin has said that Washington is not working to prevent Ukraine from developing its own long-range strike capability, the Ukrinform news agency reported.
Answering questions from the media, Austin said on Tuesday, as cited by Ukrinform: "Is the U.S. working to prevent Ukraine from developing its own long-range strike capability? The short answer is no, we’re absolutely not doing that."
The Pentagon chief noted that the United States had already provided Ukraine with over USD 19 billion in security assistance, as well as engaging allies and partners to provide support, including through the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.
Polish FM travels to US
Meanwhile, Poland’s Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau is set to start a four-day visit to the United States on Wednesday, the PAP news agency reported.
Rau will hold talks with the US top diplomat, Anthony Blinken, among others, to discuss issues such as Polish-American relations and the strengthening of the eastern flank of NATO, officials said.
Ukraine making gains in Kharkiv region
On the frontlines of Russia's war against Ukraine, Ukrainian troops “likely made recent gains in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, and Russian forces conducted limited attacks and defended against Ukrainian counteroffensive actions," the ISW reported on Tuesday night.
Moreover, Russian troops “continued to conduct ground attacks near Bakhmut and Avdiivka” in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, the US experts said.
According to Russian sources, “Russian forces made marginal territorial advances near Bakhmut, but Russian forces have not succeeded in their efforts to surround the city,” the ISW also reported.
Meanwhile, Russian forces attacked Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region with drones and S-300 missiles in the early hours of Wednesday, destroying residential infrastructure and injuring three people, Ukrainska Pravda reported.
Wednesday is day 287 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, understandingwar.org, ukrinform.net, pravda.com.ua