The decision of General Valery Gerasimov, the new commander of the invasion force in Ukraine, has caused widespread derision in the Russian military and criticism from some of President Vladimir Putin’s allies, the British Ministry of Defense said in its latest assessment of the evolution of the British armed forces. war in Ukraine.

The British assessment notes that Gerasimov, the Russian chief of staff whom Putin appointed to lead troops in Ukraine on January 11, began his “tenure” with what appears to be a campaign to improve the day-to-day discipline of the troops he commands. now

After he officially took command of the invasion force, Russian officers began cracking down on improper uniforms, traveling in civilian vehicles, using cellphones and having haircuts that did not meet the standards of Moscow’s official army manual.

It will be recalled that the Ministry of Defense in Moscow stated that the Ukrainian attack with the use of HIMARS systems on the barracks in Makiivka, as a result of which hundreds of Russian soldiers were probably killed, became possible because the soldiers called their relatives on New Year’s Eve using mobile phones. .

“But the most derision has been caused by attempts to improve shaving standards in the military,” Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Monday in reference to information that began circulating on Russian social media and Telegram channels last week. According to which the Chechen Ramzan Kadyrov soldiers do not follow the regulations of the Russian army regarding wearing beards.

Beards are a new reason for discord in the Russian army

The British assessment echoes comments from officials installed by Russia in the occupied areas of Donetsk for months, who described the crackdown on “irregular” beards as a “farce” that would “affect the process of destroying the enemy”.

This was stated personally by the leader of the separatists in Donetsk, Denys Pusilin, who denied that there is a ban on wearing a beard in the Russian army. But some retired Russian generals confirmed its existence to Moscow television.

The situation angered Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who called for one of those generals, now a member of the State Duma, to be sent to the front after declaring that shaving was “an elementary requirement of military discipline.”

“It seems that Lieutenant General Viktor Sobolev has a lot of free time at work, because he has nothing to do and is rereading the regulations. There were no problems in the ranks of our fighters who defend the Motherland from the neo-Nazis, and bam! Appeared! Barba!” Kadyrov accused last Thursday in a lengthy message published on his Telegram channel.

The head of Chechnya condemned Sobolev’s comments as a “clear provocation”, also noting that “in our unit, 99.9% [din militari] to wear a beard, to take care of it, to wear it according to the Sunnah (non-Islamic practice). And our fighters in the area of ​​the special operation also take care of their beards.”

Ramzan Kadyrov, outraged by the latest negotiations in Moscow

It will be recalled that Kadyrov mobilized thousands of Chechen fighters in the capital of Chechnya, Grozny, from the first days of the invasion from Ukraine, but most of them returned home after the conquest of the territory of the so-called LPR in July. .

However, in September, Kadyrov announced that he would again send Chechen “elite troops” to fight in Ukraine in the context of the numerous defeats that the Russian army subsequently suffered.

It is not clear why General Valery Gerasimov decided now, almost a year after the beginning of the Russian invasion, to order measures against the wearing of beards in the Russian army, one possibility is that this decision is related to the struggle for power in Moscow. between various officials trying to curry favor with President Vladimir Putin.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Wagner’s mercenaries, was one of the most vocal critics of the new measures, declaring that “war is a time for the active and brave, not the clean-shaven.”

But the US-based Institute for the Study of War notes in its latest assessment that Prigozhin may have lost Putin’s trust after his mercenaries failed to capture the key town of Bakhmut in Donetsk region, despite bloody attacks there since the beginning of the month. August.

The British Ministry of Defense also notes in its assessment on Tuesday that the emphasis on such minor norms in the Russian military forces Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to become increasingly detached from reality.

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