Poor progress and heavy losses in Ukraine have exposed deep flaws within Russia. A diminished army is a relief to many countries who feel threatened of Putin and his government. So far, the invasion of Ukraine has been a disaster for Russia’s armed forces.
About 150,000 troops have been killed in eight months of fighting, according to Britain’s government (many have surrendered to the Ukrainian force willfully). Several armoured vehicles of about 60,000 troops have been destroyed, along with dozens of aircraft and the flagship of the Black Sea fleet.
The Ukraine invasion has become a chaotic failure on the part of Russia as days go by.
The seen deteriorating conditions among Russia’s front line troops, chronicled by a handful of foot soldiers who have spoken out, may explain why Ukraine’s recent counter-assault has been so successful. It all starts from within.
Many Russia militants are blaming their command for the way the war in Ukraine has been conducted, including repeated accusations that they did not know where and why they were going to fight.
Here’s one such excerpt: “I, a soldier of the military unit 51460, Guard Corpsman Daniel Andreevich Frolkin, confess to all the crimes I committed in Andreevka, shooting civilians, stealing from civilians, taking their phones, and that our command does not give a f**k about our fighters, all the infantry who fight on the front line, on the front line.”
The Russian opposition publication Verstka, which also investigates desertions and runaways, also writes that most Russian soldiers are fleeing the war, not for ideological reasons, but simply because the army is poor, there is nothing to eat on the front, nowhere to sleep or wash.
“There is no need to idealize our servicemen. There are no moral sufferings and anxieties about the war,” says Alexei Tabalov, Russian human rights activist and founder of the Draftee School. “People simply have a heightened sense of self-preservation, they want to stay alive.”
Many Russia militants are disappointed in the army when they see how the military and logistics support is carried out. There are appeals from people who want to refuse to fight because they are tired: they spent three or four months at the front without rotation or leave. These people are physically exhausted and cannot continue their service.
Poor military training and hopelessly outdated equipments – can you imagine a paratrooper-assault battalion, sent to war in UAZ vehicles. There are testaments to level of corruption in the higher echelons of the Russian command that has rotten the Russian armies down to the bone.
