Too little equipment, rusted weapons, lack of morale: Russian soldiers complain about the situation at the front. The Institute For The Study Of War (ISW) assumes that Putin’s troops have lost the clout. Many men fell in the war and the Russians were weakened accordingly.
But the situation seems even worse than previously thought. In early September, Russian units fled the Kharkov region, leaving behind weapons and documents. Information has been found in the city of Balaklija that has been reviewed by the Reuters news agency. The documents show how bad things are with the Russian troops.
To put it plainly, the troops stationed around Balaklija in September had little chance of holding the city against the Ukrainians. They were hugely understaffed. According to the documents, a Russian combat unit was only 19.6 percent manned. The reserve unit was only 23 percent operational. Nevertheless, the units were forbidden to withdraw from the region in an emergency. On September 8 and 9, Russian troops were routed into Balaklija.
Soldiers complain about conditions in video
The precarious state of the Balakllija troop can also be applied to the entire Russian army. Russian media reported that since the partial mobilization on September 21, military uniforms had been out of stock for weeks and could not be reproduced in time.
Time and again there are complaints from conscripts that they are not getting the right training. In one video, young men complained that they had been sent into battle without preparation and without tanks. Soon after, most of them were dead (jwg)