The Russian army is increasingly deploying specialized troops in massive assaults on Ukrainian positions, solely to maintain pressure on the front lines. Russian military bloggers are not hiding their anger about this and are fiercely critical of the Russian military leadership, reports The Kyiv Independent. The Russian shortage of personnel in eastern Ukraine is so dire that Moscow is deploying its most experienced troops for massive infantry attacks, and at very high costs.
The Ukrainian army has also noticed a recent increase in specialized Russian troops participating in infantry attacks. (ANP / Anadolu)
'The past four months have proven to be the most expensive for Russian troops since the start of the war in 2022', according to a report from the British Ministry of Defense.
Due to your selected cookie preferences, we cannot show this tweet. Click here to agree to the cookie preferences required to load this tweet.
According to the British, Russian losses are now more than 1,000 per day and will not change in the coming month. Russian military bloggers, who are usually very pro-Kremlin, are now accusing Moscow of using specialist troops as cannon fodder in massive infantry attacks. It is a tried and tested battlefield tactic of the Russian army: throwing one wave of attacks after another against the enemy lines, until the enemy position is overrun. The military authorities accept that this is at the cost of many lives.
Cannon Fodder Doctrine
It is a Russian military mentality that has hardly changed since the Second World War, says professor of international security Steven Wolff of the University of Birmingham. "Russian military doctrine is Soviet-style and has always relied on Russia's depth and its enormous resources, including manpower," Wolff said. "The way Stalin threw millions of people at the Nazis in the 1940s is not much different from what Putin is doing in this terrible war of aggression against Ukraine."
'The way Stalin threw millions of people at the Nazis is not much different from what Putin is doing'
Steven Wolff, professor
This tactic comes at a huge price, and to maintain manpower, Putin signed a decree earlier this month increasing the total number of Russian military and staff personnel by 180,000 to just under 2.4 million. It is thanks to the quantitative majority combined with the tactic that the Russians continue to advance steadily in eastern Ukraine.
Angry milbloggers
The Russian milblogger community is increasingly drawing attention to cases where trained and specialized troops have been sent to the front to compensate for the shocking losses. And that means that Russian special forces officers, air and space forces, drone specialists, engineers and even sailors are being deployed to storm Ukrainian positions. But very young and inexperienced soldiers are also being used, and in some cases even disabled and wounded.
The Ukrainian army has also noticed a recent increase in specialized Russian troops taking part in infantry attacks. 'New reinforcements have not yet arrived, so the enemy is forced to use trained and well-equipped special forces units for attacks,' a Ukrainian commander told Espresso TV.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also reported on what is beginning to look like a trend and points to the 'systematic abuse of Russian specialists'. The ISW concludes 'that Russia is struggling to meet the demand for manpower for its war in Ukraine'
by Khabooem
22 comments
Good , the more of their specialist troops die the better
Keep wasting!
Artillery explodes. No replacement to supply artillery troops. Artillery troops become infantry. Infantry explodes.
Specialists like Bieber and Dolik?
Out of sight out of mind.
This must be a sign that everything is going according to the plan for Russians? Nothing says “we’re winning” like having to send even your sailors and specialists in meat waves to die for the Motherland! Next will be the air-force pilots I assume?
It’s a special military operation of course they are going to send there special ists 👊💥
Typical Russian shortsightedness on tactical level. When Tsar demands result, those need to be delivered. What ever it costs. Strategically they count on Trump getting elected and Europe turning back to shortsighted Russophilia. RU trying to get as much as it is possible on tactical level and hope for Tremendously Yuge Peace Deal to come next year.
Still, Russis is making progress, as Ukraine also is pretty attritioned. Fuck this war.
The Nobel Commitee should make a special award to Ukraine for their outstanding & invaluable contribution to the improvement of the European gene pool.
“horrifying losses” of the orcs are a very good thing. Keep sending in the specialist and let Ukraine take care of it. Slava Ukraini forever.
Excellent news
*” Due to your selected cookie preferences, we cannot show this tweet. Click here to agree to the cookie preferences required to load this tweet. ”*
They’ll just offer their masses a washing machine to grow more. Some things never change when you are a Neanderthal.
Time to strike deep and all over Russia…take out infrastructure and rail lines…payback is a bitch. Trap all of their troops that are in Ukraine so there is no escape. Time for Putin to reap what he has sown.
Damn cookie preferences foiling me again!
The non-specialist’s are now the specialists. Problem solved.
We heard complaints as early as within the first weeks of the war that many Russian commanders were using their special forces as elite infantry rather than as, well, special forces, which contributed significantly to loss rates among Russia’s most elite units.
It’s just what Russia does……at the first sign of real resistance they throw manpower at the problem and losses be damned.
Putin has total tunnel vision on gaining territory at any cost. I guess he still hopes to “freeze” the conflict and then slowly consolidate those gains to a point where Ukraine and the rest of the world simply view them as “Russian”. It’s a huge gamble and the long-term risks for Russian society are already considerable and almost inevitable.
It is clear that the ruZZians are launching meat wave assaults all along the Front with whatever forces they can find, and they are certainly taking some ground, albeit with horrific losses. There are two imperatives driving all of this frenzied action, Putin wants to take as much land as possible before the wet season sets in and he wants to be in as strong a position as he can when Trump is elected (he hopes) in the November Presidential election.
Coming from a military background, some people are just more valuable than others. People tend to assume that militaries have infinite resources for everything but that’s not true. Even in the US we only have a handful of guys that can fix critical things.
What happens when all their mechanics for a key helicopter part get taken out? Lets say they have 5 mechanics that can fix an optics device that goes out every year, there’s no guarantee its well documented or someone can just pick up that knowledge from scatch.
It is not a waste, keep sending them. Preferably with sticks and stones.
Can’t pay dead folk. Gotta make those cost cutting decisions one way or another!