Putin’s Army Is Hanging On At Staggeringly Low Numbers As His Dismal War Drags On In Ukraine

No one knows how Vladimir Putin’s Army is hanging on in Ukraine, although it still doesn’t sound like it’s going well for Russia. The past several months have given Ukraine a lot of unplanned firepower after Russian troops simply abandoned artillery while fleeing for the horizon. And it’s no wonder, considering that half of Putin’s initial drop-ship of fighters quickly ended up dead or seriously injured by mid-summer.

Fast forward a few months, and Putin sent 300,000+ drafted troops to Ukraine. They were told to bring tampons to stuff into bullet wounds due to lack of legit medical supplies. From there, Ukraine’s been taking back territory and enjoying their new-old tanks, and the Daily Beast now relays word from the British defense ministry that Russian numbers are shockingly low.

The intelligence update notes that reservists came to fill in some blanks, but “this is from an extremely low level of manning.” Then come the grim details: “In September 2022, Russian officers described companies in the Kherson sector as consisting of between six and eight men each. Companies should deploy with around 100 personnel.”

It’s no wonder that we’ve heard leaked audio from a Russian frontlines soldier who called Putin as a “f*ck face.”

In response to shortages, Russia’s been shipping over more and more warm bodies while essentially sending them to die and abandon even more tanks and cannons, so yes, it’s not great. The soldiers aren’t even being treated humanely by Russia, and one fleeing draftee (according to The Atlantic) has referred to this as an “army of zombies.” Meanwhile, the private mercenaries hired by Russia have apparently been apparently accidentally shooting Putin’s actual draftees. One wonders how long this can carry on before Russia finally admits defeat, or before Putin ratchets up his nuclear threats.

(Via Daily Beast)