Throughout Russia last week, tens of thousands of men were called up for military training and service in the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine. They are part of a mobilization that could see as many as one million fighters thrown into the fray. This is Vladimir Putin’s surge.

Based on assessments of many military experts, the new fighters will receive rudimentary training, will be armed with Soviet-era equipment, and will be sorely lacking in morale. In months or weeks, they will be prime candidates for cannon fodder, a role primarily played so far by fighters mobilized from Russia’s poorest and most remote regions.