Despite the promises of US President Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, in February 2022 against Ukraine, continues more than three years later without showing signs of an end in the near future. Quite the opposite. This same Tuesday, in fact, the American president suspended the meeting he had planned with Putin and with the aim of damaging the economic engine that feeds Moscow’s war machine, the oil sector.
In this scenario, Russia is facing a crisis that is not limited to the battlefield. “Here, For many Russian recruits, the illusion of patriotic duty collapsedleading to the latest mass shootings, and was replaced by fear, desperation and an overwhelming desire to escape at any cost, from any possibility of becoming involved in war,” the specialized media reported. .
Thus, the media has reported in an article from the front line in Ukraine which it claims is only “the latest incident that symbolizes this internal rupture.” In a military unit in the Moscow region, a Russian recruit opened fire on his comradeskilling two and wounding another before committing suicide. The shooting occurred at an anti-aircraft brigade training center for newly recruited soldiers.
The Russian army reported that the reason remains unknown, but the specialized media assures that “these cases are no longer rare.” “Shootings, suicides and mental breakdowns among troops newly recruited are increasingly common, reflecting a force psychologically crumbling under the weight of war,” he noted.
Three years after the war unleashed by the Russian president, the young recruits have already seen images of the front and have observed how soldiers arrive from the front. Given this, the media affirms that many are trying to flee, “but the new and severe laws penalize even online searches for information considered extremist, a label that conveniently includes criticism of the war.”
Added to this is the fact that Russian soldiers are sent to the front under harsh conditions due to a shortage of equipment that has reached “absurd levels”: without bulletproof vests, or with cheap ones, and plastic helmets, or with ones that barely protect them. Additionally, they often lack boots, gloves and basic equipment.
He also cited a video showing a Russian soldier “joyfully” looting the equipment of his fallen comrades. The soldier appears filming himself as he removes a helmet and vest from a corpse and sarcastically thanks the dead for their contribution.
“His cynicism hides desperation. He had been sent into battle without protection and was grateful to find it among the dead. This scene illustrates how corruption and neglect in the Russian army have turned even the search for food into a way of survival,” the article captures.
This desperation, they say, is already felt among the Russian recruits, who although they cannot yet be mobilized to the battlefield in Ukraine, thousands are stationed along border regions such as Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk, where they receive fire from drones and artillery from the Ukrainian forces almost daily, according to the specialized media.
