British Colonel: Mobilization Will Result In Thousands Of New "Boys In Zinc" For Putin
1- 25.08.2026, 23:19
Until now, the Russian dictator has managed to shield his “middle class” from the war.
The mobilization of 300,000 people that Russia is preparing to carry out could put an end to the war, but not in the way the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin envisions. This was stated in a column for The Telegraph British Army Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon.
He writes that a new wave of mobilization could repeat the history of the Soviet Union’s war in Afghanistan, when thousands of conscripts who had been killed—the “boys in zinc coffins”—were sent home. At that time, the mothers of Russian soldiers organized marches to the Kremlin, demanding that their sons be brought home. “The zinc coffins returning from Afghanistan, and the grief and anger they provoked, became a significant factor not only in ending the war but also in the collapse of the Soviet Union,” the author writes.
The author added, however, that Russia’s current war against Ukraine has already claimed far more lives. But in Russia, it has not sparked any significant protests. He attributes this to the fact that, to this day, “Putin has managed to avoid sending conscripts of Russian origin to the front against their will”:
“The Russian army has been replenished with prisoners of war, mercenaries, members of ethnic minorities, and men from poor regions who were lured by salaries that are extremely high by Russian standards or the promise of release from prison.”
Such people, he noted, became “disposable” to the residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
He also writes that the Russian occupation army is poorly equipped, that soldiers suffer from cold and hunger, and that they are subjected to brutal punishments to force them onto the battlefield.
“It’s a meat grinder devouring young people at an industrial pace,” is how he described Putin’s army.
If hundreds of thousands of men from more affluent families were mobilized into such an army, it could radically alter the political situation in Russia. Perhaps, for the first time, the so-called Russian “middle class” would also feel the effects of the war.
“Suddenly, it might not be the son of some Chechen or Tatar mother, a criminal released from prison, or a foreign mercenary who is sent to his death in Donbas. It could be their own sons,” he added.
This, the author believes, is the real danger for Putin. And that is why the Russian dictator faces “a difficult choice”: to continue the war or to admit failure.
“Putin seems to believe that if he can simply outlast Ukraine and its allies, victory will somehow come on its own, out of sheer exhaustion,” the expert added, emphasizing that European allies must continue to supply Ukraine with weapons so that it can keep resisting Russia.
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