After a year of mobilization: Russian soldiers die so quickly at the front

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It is a fate that now unites many Russians: the path from summons to burial. Many Russians were drafted to Ukraine and never returned home. 300,000 reservists had to go to the front. Russian President Vladimir Putin (70) announced this a year ago. A research team from the Russian research portal Istories, together with the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), discovered that one in five deaths did not survive two months.

At least 130 people died in the first month after Putin’s “partial mobilization.” CIT’s analyzes are based on data from public death reports. They show: the 3,000 officially reported dead survived an average of only 4.5 months of war. Almost none of the dead lived longer than eleven months.

Relatives report that some of those mobilized went to the front without any training. “They were sent to Kherson with almost no preparation,” says a man from Cheyabinsk, Russia. Behind this lies a treacherous tactic by the Russian army.

Many victims are younger than 25 years old

“Initially, the mobilized soldiers filled gaps to prevent the front from collapsing,” the CIT said. A tactic that cost the lives of many inexperienced men. Based on the 3,000 deaths analyzed, losses were especially high during the transitional seasons. Last fall, Russia was still on the offensive. In the spring, Ukraine began recapturing territory.

On average, the deceased are 33 years old; many men leave behind families with children. But there are also individual cases of younger and older people at the front. The youngest soldier killed was 19 years old. The fact that young people in particular are called up is because they have not been in military service for very long and they are fitter. One in ten of the frontline victims was younger than 25 years old. In addition, men in particular were mobilized in poor regions of Russia – for example from Samara, Buryatia and Tatarstan. That’s where most of the victims are counted.

139 deaths in one night

“They are chopped. “Many people are scattered on the battlefield, so it is impossible to bring them together,” said the wife of a mobilized man in January, when Russian troops were engaged in the bitter battle for Makiivka in Donetsk. 139 soldiers, including volunteers, died in one night. Also during the Battle of Bakhmut in the spring, at least forty conscripts were sacrificed in one night. “This shows once again that it was not only Wagner mercenaries who were involved in the capture of the city,” says an expert from CIT.

The high number of deaths can also be attributed to mistakes in the military. «Today our old position was stormed again. All our people were killed. 200,300 soldiers. “We are just cannon fodder here,” says a Russian soldier in an intercepted telephone conversation. Officers and soldiers repeatedly complain that there is a lack of equipment or that fighters are being sent to certain death.

In the report, the CIT analyzed official figures from the media, but the number of unreported deaths is much higher. It is important to note that only the numbers of the 3,000 soldiers killed were analyzed. There are hardly any precise data on all victims in Ukraine – and if there are, they are remarkably small. “As long as there is no body, there is hope,” the relatives are told. Without a body they are not entitled to insurance benefits. (jwg)

Source: Blick