Vladimir Putin ready for 'mass mobilisation' of troops for Ukraine as Russian funeral bills rise

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Spending on funerals in Russia has increased by 17 per cent since the invasion of Ukraine, according to western officials in an update of Vladimir Putin’s advances in a “grinding, slow conflict” with mounting costs.

In a briefing to journalists, western officials indicated that indicated ordinary Russians are beginning to see the human cost of the invasion and that mass mobilisation of civilians into the army is “about to happen”.

Because the Kremlin also fears that country-wide mobilisation could stoke unrest in cities, it is attempting to increase the pool of fighters by “doing very significant recruitment” in poor areas and raising the age limit for serving, officials said.Moscow is “concerned” about mobilisation as it would be an “admission of failure” in what was intended to be a quick, clean operation in Ukraine and has turned into a slow and grinding conflict, officials said.Officials added that the economic and human cost of the conflict was apparent to ordinary Russians and would grow as winter set in.An official said: “We don’t know the full extent of Russian losses, our current estimate is about 20,000 dead but we have seen reports of huge increases in spending on funerals in Russia since February.”Western officials said there is “more chatter” about Vladimir Putin’s health and “more speculation” about who will replace him in Russia.The 2024 presidential election “is certainly looking more interesting than it perhaps was six months ago,” the officials said.However, there does not appear to be an “immediate threat” to the Russian president’s position from the elite or the general population, they said, even as an estimated 20,000 Russian troops have been killed in the Ukraine war.While there will be political