Putin could deploy 2MILLION reservists to meatgrinder war with law change

RUSSIA is preparing to deploy two million reserve soldiers to fight in the meatgrinder war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin is planning to change a Russian law that would allow Vladimir Putin to send hundreds of thousands of soldiers to die on the battlefield.

It comes as Putin’s battlefield casualties have soared past the bloody one million milestone after 44 months of meatgrinder war.

Ukraine’s fierce resistance forced Russia to pay a mighty toll for every inch of land it has taken, and its advances remain painfully slow.

The staggering milestone includes troops who have been killed or wounded so severely that they cannot fight on.

Despite the devastating losses which have already ripped a scar in Russian society, Putin is preparing to mobilise more men.

The rule change, which is expected to be backed by the Russian parliament, would allow the country’s reservists to be called up for duty even during peacetime.

The amendment is being done because Moscow still calls its invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation” and not a war.

This currently restricts the Russian military to using up the two million reservists it has, which Russian defence bosses say are “professional soldiers”.

Alexei Zhuravlev, deputy chairman of Russia’s parliamentary defence committee, said the force of two million reservists were “professionals in their field” but were currently being unused.

“Until now it has only been possible to use this potential during periods of martial law or mobilisation. We are engaged in very real and large-scale combat operations [in Ukraine] but officially, war has not been declared,” he told RTVI news.

Insiders and leading defence experts told The Sun that Putin would not think twice before flooding another million soldiers to die on the battlefield.

And that’s because mass sacrifice is ingrained in his Soviet-style battle plan, they said.

A Ukrainian government source told The Sun: “Putin doesn’t care and never cared for the people of Russian Federation, be it ethnic Russians or representatives of other minorities.

“For him, it is a matter of personal survival and he would be willing to send anyone to death – from a Russian soldier to a Ukrainian child – for his own miserable existence.

“Unfortunately, Russian people in the majority are also too scared to stand up to the monster they’ve created, and would rather die killing other nations’ people than risk their lives standing up against it.”

It all comes as Donald Trump is weighing the supply of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kyiv — a move he admits would mark a “new step of aggression” and one that Moscow warns could sever relations entirely.

Trump is now pivoting his attention to what he calls the “unfinished business” of Ukraine as Washington plans on sending the long-range missiles to Kyiv.

Trump said: “I might say, look, if this war’s not going to get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks,” Trump said en route to Israel.

“I might have to speak to Russia, to be honest with you, about Tomahawks.

“Do they want to have Tomahawks going in their direction? I don’t think so.”

Russia warned that sending the missiles to Ukraine would rupture its ties with Washington and trigger a new round of escalation.

The White House has already stepped up intelligence-sharing with Ukrainian forces, helping them target Russian energy infrastructure in a bid to choke the Kremlin’s war machine.

And later this week, Trump will host Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House to discuss how Tomahawks could “bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table”, according to the Ukrainian president.

Zelensky said: “The main topics will be air defence and our long-range capabilities, to maintain pressure on Russia.”

Kyiv sees the 1,500-mile-range missile as a potential gamechanger — one capable of crippling Russian supply lines and smashing missile and drone factories far behind enemy lines.

Even the limited stock Washington could provide, estimated at just 20–50 missiles, could complement Ukraine’s existing strike arsenal in “large complex salvos”, analysts say.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that the Tomahawks were of “extreme concern” and that Russia “would not be able to tell if the missiles were carrying nuclear warheads” if launched at its territory.

“Tensions are escalating from all sides,” he said.

Putin crony and former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev also lashed out at the US leader, mocking him as a “star-spangled uncle” and warning the Tomahawk plan “could end badly for everyone – and first of all, for Trump himself.”

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“Their launch will not be carried out by….Kyiv, but by the USA,” said Medvedev, implying they will need American input into targeting and launching.