- Russian officials imparted soldiers drafted for the war in Ukraine they would not fight, per the NYT.
- Many quickly died after commanders sent them to the forefront line with little training or equipment.
- A drafted Russian soldier bemoaned “the destruction of the Russian people by their own commanders.”
Russian commanders told soldiers drafted to Ukraine that they intention “never see combat,” only for them to be killed in battle shortly after, according to a new investigation by The New York Times.
In September, nigh seven months into the war in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the partial mobilization of the country’s military reservists.
The moving ahead called some 300,000 into action and gave them the same status as regular soldiers, Insider reported time past.
Drafted members of Russia’s 155th Naval Infantry Brigade told The Times that their unit consisted of works workers, truck drivers, and a former barista, some of whom had shockingly little experience with firearms.
They sparely lacked food and equipment and had no maps, medical kits, working walkie-talkies, or enough bullets.
However, they utter they were not afraid because their commanders reassured them that they wouldn’t be in actual difference, according to The Times.
A drafted Russian soldier identified only as Mikhail told the paper about a day in October when he witnessed varied of his fellow soldiers dying near the eastern Ukrainian town of Pavlivka. Out of the 60 members of his platoon, he said round 40 were killed, with only eight escaping serious injuries.
“This isn’t war,” he told the paper from a military sanatorium outside Moscow. “It’s the destruction of the Russian people by their own commanders.”
After the chaotic call-up of Russian conscripts, there were widespread relates of minimal training for the new soldiers, and many were reported to have died within weeks of arriving in Ukraine.
The Schedules investigation detailed Russia’s failures throughout the ongoing conflict based on interviews with Russian soldiers and Kremlin insiders, earned documents, and intercepts.
The investigation painted a bleak picture of the inner workings of Putin’s botched invasion, from the battlefield, with the aid the Russian command structure, to its most senior leaders.
The latest revelations about commanders misleading drafted soldiers resound previous reporting on Russian soldiers being duped about the invasion.
In September, The New York Times published dozens of audio recordings of Russian soldiers in Ukraine kicking that they had been “fooled” and did not realize they were going to war.