The lightning offensive of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Kharkiv region in the northeast of the country led to the fact that the Russian front collapsed like a sandcastle, but the factors that led to its success had more to do with the shortcomings of the Russian military itself. .

“In no way belittling the heroism of the defenders of Ukraine, it is obvious that there was a massive drop in morale among the Russian troops in the Kharkiv region. They surrendered the cities almost without a fight and left a huge amount of equipment behind,” said military analyst and independent researcher Chris Owen in a wide-ranging analysis published on his website. Twitter.

He begins by quoting Napoleon Bonaparte, who wrote in 1808 that “three-quarters of war is based on personal character and relationships; the rest of the armed forces and equipment is only a quarter.”

For starters, Owen recalls the many stories in recent months about the experiences of Russian soldiers during the “special military operation” launched by President Vladimir Putin on February 24: from conscripts drafted to fight in Ukraine, to reindeer herders recruited out of poverty, to Russian soldiers shooting staff FSB in the occupied zones against the background of alcohol.

“Such reports show that the Russian army was not a happy place even before the recent setbacks. Morale is low, training is poor, food is terrible, equipment is inadequate, health and training are neglected, and commanders are dishonest, indifferent and incompetent,” Chris Owen claims.

These factors have already forced thousands of Russian soldiers to abandon their military contracts and return to Russia. Despite numerous obstacles from the command and authorities, they have this right until Russia officially declares war on Ukraine and continues the “special operation”.

Next, the military analyst examines the numerous problems and shortcomings of the Russian armed forces and the military-political leadership in Moscow, which the war in Ukraine revealed.

Russian soldiers do not want to die in Ukraine

OBJECTIVES: Most of the Russian soldiers, or at least a large part of them, did not know on February 24 that they were about to invade Ukraine, and many of them did not realize that they had crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border until the Ukrainian military began firing on them. Some from the first days deserted en masse or were captured by Ukrainian soldiers.

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Putin’s propaganda about the “denazification” and “demilitarization” of Ukraine had mixed results. Some believed it, other Russians, especially those who had connections with the Ukrainian civilian population, understood that it was a lie.

In addition, the Kremlin and, under its direction, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow constantly changed Russia’s military objectives, becoming increasingly confusing and unclear, as it became clear that Kyiv would not fall in three days and that the “special military operation” would be prolonged.

“Knowing what you’re fighting for is fundamental to military success,” notes Chris Owen.

MOTIVATION: “A man does not allow himself to be killed for a halfpenny a day or for a small honor. It is necessary to speak with the soul in order to ignite it,” the military analyst quotes Napoleon again.

From the many stories of Russian soldiers, it became clear that personal motivation is one of the biggest gaps in the Russian armed forces. The Russian army is mainly composed of volunteers from poorer regions and socio-economic categories (especially Russia’s ethnic minorities) who see military service as a means of economic or social progress.

• On the same topic: Siberian reindeer herder told why he signed up for Vladimir Putin’s war: The alternative was to starve

But despite this, most of them did not join the armed forces to fight wars. With the exception of the conflicts in Chechnya, other military actions of Russia after the collapse of the USSR (in Transnistria, Abkhazia, Crimea, Donbass, South Ossetia, Syria, etc.) had a low number of casualties.

Military service was actually very compatible with the goal of survival. But that equation changes very significantly in a very high-casualty war, and the way things are going in Ukraine, it is likely to be one of the deadliest conflicts of the last 200 years.

Service in the Russian armed forces now comes with a high probability of being killed or wounded and the certainty of deplorable conditions at the front. Evidence provided by Russian soldiers’ accounts and intercepted conversations showed that, unsurprisingly, the high casualty rate was a very discouraging factor for Russian soldiers who witnessed the destruction of entire units by Ukrainian forces.

Problems of the Russian army with military equipment and food

TECHNIQUE: A constant complaint of the Russian military was the lack and low quality of the equipment with which they were sent into battle. Some tanks arrived at the front from storage without vital equipment (sometimes even without working engines), ammunition was scarce, first-aid kits were decades out of date, and body armor was often missing.

Pavlo Filatyev, a former Russian paratrooper who fled to the West after publishing widespread criticism of the war, said among other things that although he belonged to an elite unit of the Russian military, he was sent to Ukraine with broken armor. machine gun that he had to repair it himself and that he was not given a bulletproof vest and other necessary equipment, which he had to find himself.

Many Russian soldiers have had to buy the equipment they need at their own expense, including military transceivers that are often put up for sale on Avito, the Russian equivalent of eBay, after being stolen from military warehouses by corrupt officials.

• On the same topic: How incredible corruption works in the Russian army: from soldiers forced into prostitution to officers who fabricate troops to get paid

The losses of equipment recorded by the Russian troops on the battlefield were huge. Moscow soldiers said that motorized brigades had lost most of their armored vehicles, entire bases had been destroyed by Ukrainian strikes with US-supplied HIMARS systems, or even that they had run out of boots and uniforms that had deteriorated after months of heavy fighting.

Troops in the separatist regions of Luhansk and Donetsk received the worst equipment, including World War II-era helmets, 1,898 Moisein-Nagent rifles, and 0 body armor. In addition to all this, the Russian army cut them off from the few supplies they received due to misunderstandings and protests about their being sent to the front.

FOOD: Speaking of supplies, Russian soldiers on both the southern and northern fronts quickly ran out of rations after the invasion began, receiving only 3 days of rations, the amount of time Moscow believed Kyiv would fall and occupy the remaining strategic areas objects in Ukraine.

The situation caused starvation among Russian soldiers, who began entering people’s yards or breaking into shops to get food. Logistical problems on the southern front meant that soldiers received only one ration every two days.

In addition, the food prepared by the military canteens of the Russian army is often so terrible that even hungry soldiers refuse it. Replenishment was also affected by incredible corruption in the Russian army.

One of the soldiers reported that “new recruits who delivered food to our unit in Ukraine stole it from three boxes of canned meat and sold it to our unit for 70 rubles each.” Russian servicemen also complained about the theft of parcels sent from home.

The Russians sent untrained soldiers to the front

In addition, the conditions at the front were terrible for the Moscow military. Some soldiers complained that they were not even given shovels to dig trenches and shelters. They said that they have to live in miserable misery, apart from the Ukrainians, because of frostbite and constant “attacks” of mosquitoes.

Perhaps most shamefully, Russian soldiers, apparently uninformed about the dangers, dug trenches in the Red Forest near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the most radioactive site on the planet. They were later hospitalized due to radiation exposure.

Other soldiers complained that medical care at the front is very poor, with doctors lacking even basic items such as bandages and tourniquets, and the possibility of evacuation often lacking.

“It is likely that many Russian soldiers were simply bleeding from wounds that were completely treatable,” says Owen.

LACK OF TRAINING: Many Russian soldiers were sent to the front with a level of training that falls into the “joke” category.

At the beginning of the invasion, some soldiers were given weapon systems they had never seen before and did not know how to use. Training activities were often falsified so that officers could report completion and evade supplies.

The soldier reported that “we arrived at the training ground and were forced to stand with a rifle at the target. As soon as you were photographed, you were released.”

This type of forgery has been reported not only by regular Russian infantry divisions, but also by Moscow’s elite units such as the Airborne Forces, indicating that the practice is widespread in the Russian military.

• On the same topic: How the incredible corruption of the Russian army works (II): multimillionaire generals, blond “Amazons” and parties with Jennifer Lopez

In addition to all these systemic problems, many of which existed in the Russian armed forces years before the start of the war in Ukraine, the decision of the military command in Moscow to transfer a significant part of the units located in Kharkiv to the south, leaving the front areas completely exposed to the Ukrainian offensive.

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