Putin advances wartime mobilization as Russia expands its armed forces

ISW’s July 27 update says Putin is militarizing Russian society and shifting responsibility for the Ukraine war onto the State Duma and populace, aided by a Navy Day speech and a deputies’ meeting; the Duma has backed laws to integrate occupied Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson into Russia and to sustain the war, while Putin pushes mobilized 2022 troops toward MoD contracts. Russia’s end-strength rose to 2,426,130 total (1,535,000 military) with plans for military-construction units. Ukraine continued long-range strikes against Russian energy infrastructure (July 26–27); Russia launched 147 drones (123 downed) with no confirmed ground advances on July 27; infiltration and counterattacks persist across multiple sectors. Ukrainian strikes hit targets in Crimea and energy infrastructure, likely reducing Black Sea activity; Kazakhstan’s oil output reportedly halved after strikes on Russian infrastructure; Moscow is adding Pantsir air-defense towers near the capital as part of defense against long-range strikes.