An assessment by Britain’s Ministry of Defense said on Monday morning that Russia was experiencing increasing problems motivating separatist forces in Donetsk, which are fighting alongside Moscow’s army, as some units refused to continue fighting despite threats from their commanders.

What the British military says:

• On August 15, 2022, a video was released on Ukrainian social networks, which allegedly shows units of the military unit of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) making a statement about refusing to participate in offensive operations in the Donetsk region.
• The militants claimed that they had fulfilled their duty to ensure LPR control over the entire Luhansk region, which was secured in July 2022, and that they did not wish to fight in Donetsk region, despite threats and intimidation from high-ranking commands.
• Russia is likely to increasingly try to motivate the auxiliary forces it uses to bolster its regular forces in the Donbass.
• Commanders are more likely to resort to direct financial incentives, while some combat units are deemed unsafe for offensive operations.
• A constant factor in these problems is Russia’s classification of the war as a “special military operation,” which limits the state’s legal coercive powers.

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