For the start: HAD the West supplied the necessary number of artillery pieces to Ukraine by now…

Secondly, Putin is going to try everything else - before declaring a general mobilisation. General mobilisation would have a direct impact…

For the start: HAD the West supplied the necessary number of artillery pieces to Ukraine by now, Russia would have been on withdrawal before it would ever come to the idea to announce a general mobilisation.

Secondly, Putin is going to try everything else - before declaring a general mobilisation. General mobilisation would have a direct impact upon people in Moscow and St Petersburg, which are about the only Russians he gives a damn.

Finally: nope, the VSRF has already spent about 50% of its armoured vehicles in Ukraine. It simply hasn't got enough to run this war for another six months at this rate of loss.

Sure, it's got 'giant reserves', but:

a) its 'best' has already proven as not good enough, and

b) the mass of what is in reserve is of even poorer quality and in rotten condition, thus requiring extensive overhauls before it can be deployed again. (Indeed, one of primary reasons why Ukrainians have captured so many of best VSRF tanks the last six months, is that many of these have suffered different defects and were then abandoned by their crews.)

Overall, things are anything else than as 'simple' as that Putin can now send a 'Million-man army' to the field. If he could, he would've already done that. He's actually in deep shit, and the coming winter is even more dangerous for him and the VSRF than for Ukraine and ZSU.