To me it seemed very clear and easy to understand. The article summary, right on the second sentence, says in no ambiguous terms "He wants to avoid a general mobilization, so the military is relying on other methods."

The article then goes on how Russia's regime is resorting to very desperate measures to recruit troops, including posting fake general mobilization orders to deceive reservists.

Taken from the article:

> The Russian army is using all means at its disposal to find reinforcements. They are luring them with attractive offers, issuing threats and even simulating a general mobilization by sending out huge numbers of summons to reservists – which some, either out of ignorance or fear, interpret as a call up order.

> But an official call up can only take place once Putin declares a general mobilization. That, though, would be an indirect admission of his army’s weakness, a military force that had been considered vastly superior to Ukraine’s army prior to the invasion. More importantly, a general mobilization would have a more direct impact on the daily lives of Russians, which the Kremlin wants to avoid at all costs. The result has been a kind of veiled mobilization.

It's also hard to know exactly how desperate for manpower the Russians really are, considering that the US was sending national guard and reserve forces to Iraq throughout the war, and there was plenty of talk of the US Army struggling to meet its recruitment goals.