Caitlin McFall
Fox News
Yesterday 9:45 AM, October 14, 2022
Initial reporting on the deaths of conscripted Russian soldiers forced to fight in Ukraine following President Vladimir Putin’s mobilization order have renewed criticisms over Moscow’s lack of control and command, a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Thursday.
Russian state media reported that five mobilized men from Chelyabinsk, a city roughly 1,160 miles east of Moscow, have already died in combat, but according to the ISW, “pro-war milbloggers” suggest the casualty count is likely much higher.
Last month, Putin called up some 300,000 men to fight in Ukraine as his forces flagged there, but Western defense officials questioned how well-trained or equipped these men would be given the high casualty count among its contract soldiers.
According to Russian milbloggers, one commander from the 58th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District, Mikhail Zusko, apparently ordered the “immediate deployment without any pre-combat training of newly mobilized servicemen.”
These conscripts were sent to fight for the 15th Regiment in 27th Motor Rifle Brigade in one of the most brutal warfronts in Ukraine near the city of Svatove in Luhansk.
R&I – FS
Bugs Marlowe