\n \n \n “. concat(self. i18n. t(‘search. voice. recognition_retry’), “\n
According to observers, the poor morale of Russian troops, especially most of the recruits forced to fight, may undermine the efforts of Vladimir Putin’s army in Ukraine.
More than a month after Russian forces invaded and began bombing cities across the country, observers were shocked by Russia’s slow and likely ill-planned advance on Kiev, and by the strong resistance of the Ukrainian army, supplied and trained by NATO forces.
Russia has now declared that its forces are regrouping and has claimed that its initials have been achieved.
While Western experts say it is too early and too complicated to make full evidence of any and all claims about the crash, Sir Jeremy Fleming, the head of Britain’s GCHQ, has provided no evidence, for example, to back up his claims. the troops had shot down their own plane; they say it is transparent that poor organization and morale, especially among the large number of recruits sent through Putin to fight, can be a vital factor.
Experts warn that in such conflicts, each of the other parties engages in a data war as they seek to change the narrative of what is happening.
At the same time, a series of reports about the war camp, of Russian troops fleeing, asking villagers for food and telling their Ukrainian captors that they knew where they were, reported that the troops sent to the war were from the beginning. at least, as smart as they could have been.
Michael Ryan Maximus most recently served as U. S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense. The U. S. for Europe, a task that involved engaging with NATO. He believes that Russian troops, who have so far possibly lost up to 10% of their forces in the invasion, have reached a “climax,” where it is difficult for them to regain new momentum.
“We want to avoid jumping to conclusions based on what we’ve noticed so far,” he told The Independent. like the rest of us. “
“I think a lot of their disorders are due to the fact that they were very well prepared for the operations they were asked to perform. And this is without taking into account the inflexible resistance. You raise the fierce resistance to that, and [they are] totally caught off guard.
According to estimates, up to 20% of the Russian army are conscripts, who are required to serve for a year. Initially, Russia said no recruits were part of Putin’s so-called “army special operation” in Ukraine, an attempt presented to the other Russians through state media with the aim of protecting Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine from attacks by “fascists. “
He later claimed that the recruits had been part of the invasion force and that several had been taken prisoner.
“Unfortunately, several facts of the presence of recruits in the sets of the Russian armed forces during the conduct of a special army operation on the territory of Ukraine have been discovered,” said Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry.
Ryan, who served for 25 years in the U. S. Air Force. He said those recruits are most likely to suffer morale problems, especially teams likely to travel in their uniforms as they hoped to lead. a victory march in Kiev within a few days.
They’ve spent weeks or more on the floor, not sleeping or eating well, their cell phones will have been undone for operational reasons, and then they’ll visit cities they’ve been told they’ll travel for them, he says.
“And you start to see how things explode, like your friends,” Ryan says. “The Ukrainians have been very, very wise. When you look at the videos of their attacks on Russian columns, the first vehicle they take out is the command and vehicle. That’s where the officer in rank of that specific formation is. And they had no senior NCOs.
Then the Ukrainians target Russian missile launchers. The columns are then placed trapped without officers and without the cover they expected from their missiles. Videos show the tanks were disposed of one by one.
“All the green guys are clustered in the middle,” Ryan continues. “Most of them get out of their tanks and flee. Ukrainian farmers have collected deposits.
Several videos have circulated on social media that appear to show Russian infantrymen who have been captured. Humanitarian teams have reminded foreign media that showing interviews with such prisoners of war violates the Geneva Conventions.
Two weeks ago, CNN, the only foreign broadcaster, provided when Ukraine provided a series of prisoners of war to speak out.
“I need to tell our commander-in-chief to avoid terrorist acts in Ukraine because when we come back, we will oppose him,” one of them said.
Another said: “Putin gave the order to commit crimes. It’s not just about demilitarizing Ukraine or defeating the Ukrainian armed forces, but now cities of non-violent civilians are being destroyed. “
At the same time, Ukraine said it was investigating unverified reports that its infantrymen tortured captured Russian troops in the fighting.
“We take those cases very seriously. . . There will be an investigation. . . We are torturing prisoners of war,” Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in a Telegram message on March 28.
One of the most striking images shows an organization of young infantrymen from Donbass in an army truck, cursing their plight and denouncing the project that took them to the southern Ukrainian city of Sumy, where some of the fiercest fighting is taking place.
“We are from Donbass,” says one.
“We are all factory workers, children,” said others “Only children, 18 years old. “
They say that on Youtube there is “they capture our boys”.
“They throw us into the war with artillery weapons as opposed to artillery mortars and rocket launchers,” one of them said. “We’re screwed here. “
Katherine Kjellström Elgin, a Washington-based defense analyst and expert on the Russian military, also warns of the need to take the parties’ claims “with tweezers. “
However, he says, certain trends seem to be emerging, especially when it comes to recruits sent into combat.
“Recruits are less skilled because they are only meant to serve for a year,” he says. a lot of wisdom and a lot of experience. “
Elgin, co-author of a political paper on recruits, with Suzanne Freeman, a doctoral student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says the Russian military has a long culture of severe bullying, or dedovshchina, dating back to the Soviet era. which also affects morale.
“For a while, it was terrible. We are talking about a significant number of suicides, rapes and beatings. The worst hazing you can imagine,” says Elgin, a member of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a think tank that focuses on defense policy.
“After 2008, they tried to solve this in part by shortening the service time of recruits. But there are still reports of hazing losses.
Elgin also raises the effect on the intellectual aptitude of young troops who have been ordered to fire artillery shells on homes and apartment buildings.
“I think unless you’ve been psychologically prepared for this, it may hit you pretty hard,” he says.
She says that such tests can be done for all armies. And unless there is smart enough preparation and training, and smart leadership, the impact will likely be greater.
“All of those things can have an impact on people’s functionality,” she says.
“And that can boil and have an effect on the functionality of the total unit, and then, potentially, on the entire military. “
Additional reports via Katya Bandouil