"He chose between ending in any form of war he loses or her escalation. But this time in violation of the basic rule which he himself introduced during the Second Chechen War, that is, that Russia's war operations do not concern the general Russian society. So far Russia has been sending contract soldiers to war. He violated that rule. I firmly believe that there are no rational arguments that would support this mobilisation. We know precisely what current problems the Russian army presently has, and these problems are structural" – said Robert Beszczel, Polish diplomat, erstwhile head of the NATO Information Office in Moscow.
