Russian TV analyst reveals how they could win the war, but the numbers don’t add up

An analyst recently said on Russian TV that enlisting 70 million Russian volunteer fighters would 'solve any issue in one day'. Here's why it's not quite as simple as that.

70 million Russian volunteer fighters will 'solve any issue'

A clip of the TV segment was shared on Twitter with English subtitles on Saturday 11 March by Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

In the clip, the Russian commentator said:

The entire country should be together. I sincerely believe that every Russian man has a great chance to prove that he is a man not only on the outside.

The analyst then claimed if 'out of 140 million 70 million enlist as volunteers', then 'we will solve any issue in one day'. He continued:

If, like in the WW2, every man (not burdened with managerial functions) realizes that it's his war, too, we will move mountains

No one will be scary enough to us. It's important not to be among those who sit this one out thinking 'oh they'll manage without me'.

The numbers don't add up

While the TV commentator is correct in saying that Russia's population is currently 146 million, it is impossible that 70 million men could enlist as volunteer fighters.

As of 31 December 2022, Russia's population had 67 million males. Of those, only 49 million are aged between 15 and 64 years.

In addition, according to an article by Meduza from 2019, almost 12 million people in Russia have a disability. However, not all disabilities would exclude these people from mobilisation.

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Currently, the age range for mandatory military service is 18-27. However, a bill has recently been introduced to raise the conscription age to 21-30 in an attempt to boost the number of Russian troops by 30%.

The lower limit will only be raised from 18 to 21 after a two year 'transition period', meaning the draft age will span 10 or 11 years instead of the usual nine. This willresult in an increase of the number of men subject to a year's compulsory service.

Despite this, according to Twitter user @Prune60, prior to 2022, Russia only had 7.55 million males aged in their twenties, which is the rough age range for mandatory military service.

Twitter user @Марiна commented on Gerashchenko's post identifying the TV analyst as Vitaly Milonov, a Russian politician and deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. However, this remains unconfirmed.

Read more ⋙ Vladimir Putin ally issues terrifying threat on Russian TV: 'Can't we finally strike London'

Sources used:

Newsweek: 'Russian State Media Urges This Could 'Solve Any Issue' on Frontlines'

Country Meters: 'Russian Federation Population'

Meduza: 'Infographic: Disability in Russia by the numbers'

Reuters: 'Russian lawmaker introduces bill pushing back conscription age'

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