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https://theconversation.com/putin-forced-to-send-wounded-back-to-fight-and-offer-huge-military-salaries-as-russia-suffers-a-million-casualties-258319>
"Russian military casualties in the war in Ukraine are expected to reach a
million before the end of June. This figure, which is composed of
combat-related injuries as well as deaths, reveals that Moscow is prepared to
see its soldiers to pay a staggeringly high price for Russia to maintain and
expand its illegal occupation of Ukrainian territory.
The scale of losses since the full-scale invasion in 2022 is a direct result of
Russia’s “meat grinder” approach to fighting, which relies on sending waves of
troops into enemy fire, sacrificing many so that a few can get through.
Vladimir Putin’s strategy has allowed Russian forces to make steady – but
painfully slow – advances into eastern Ukraine, but at an estimated cost of 53
casualties per square kilometre seized.
Russia is now changing the way it is fighting in Ukraine because of the high
casualty rates. It is now using small, dispersed detachments because of the
loss of large numbers of junior officers. Although replacements are being
recruited from the ranks and quickly put through an abbreviated training, these
new officers have neither the training nor the experience to command larger
formations of soldiers.
Large battlefield losses in Ukraine also put more pressure on military
recruitment efforts back home in Russia. In the absence of a general
mobilisation, which Putin has been reluctant to declare, the ministry of
defence has had to use creative solutions to deal with the war’s insatiable
demand for manpower.
One response is to return wounded soldiers to combat duty before they have
fully recovered. Some Russian soldiers have reportedly complained that they are
being forced to return to the front before their medical treatments are
finished.
CNN reported that Ukrainian drone operators have released video
footage appearing to show Russian soldiers on crutches in combat zones.
Military recruiters also visit Russia’s prisons with the offer of full pardons
for those who survive a combat tour. Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service
says Russia’s ministry of defence has recruited an estimated 180,000 soldiers
using this method, which was introduced by Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin
in the summer of 2022."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
