1/ Why do Russian soldiers fight in Ukraine, why do they quit and what happens when they do quit? Intercepted Russian phone calls published by the Ukrainians and accounts from the soldiers themselves shed some interesting light on these key questions. First 🧵 of a short series.
2/ Let's start with some caveats. The Ukrainian authorities have released extracts from recorded phone calls by Russian soldiers, clearly for propaganda. Some Russians have also published personal accounts of their service. These are particularly interesting for being unfiltered.
3/ It's unclear how well these recordings and accounts represent Russian soldiers in general. However, other countries (US, UK) have said that the Russians are badly demoralised, presumably based on a wider range of evidence. So the accounts may not be untypical.
4/ Second, it's essential to understand Russian soldiers' employment terms. All male citizens aged 18-27 are eligible for a mandatory 12-month draft. But Russian law doesn't permit the government to use conscripts in active combat situations such as in Ukraine.
5/ But others voluntarily sign up as 'contract soldiers' (kontraktniki) for 3 or more years. They make up the majority of the Russian forces: 460,000 contract soldiers versus 210,000 conscripts. Most contract soldiers are former conscripts, so will have some previous experience.
6/ The problem for the Russian government is that unless there's a formal state of war, contract soldiers can quit at any time – though as we'll see, they may expose themselves to penalties by doing so. Russia calls its invasion a "special military operation", not a war.
7/ So why do Russian soldiers fight? Soldiers in general will often fight for four main reasons: money, ideology, comradeship and experience. Russian contract soldiers are quite well paid and get benefits after their service. Ideology is a key factor in any conflict.
8/ Comradeship – not abandoning your fellow soldiers – is also very important, but does rely on being part of a cohesive unit. And experience is a good motivating factor – the military can train you in many skills that are useful in civilian life.
9/ It's important here to look at the picture before and after 24 February, the start of the invasion. Notoriously, the great majority of Russian soldiers didn't even know they were going to war – they thought they were merely on exercises.
10/ Many soldiers deserted in February and March, complaining that they had been lied to and weren't equipped for war. They were completely morally and psychologically unprepared to fight. But nobody joining the army after 24 February could have had any illusions.
11/ Let's look at one particular unit – the 752nd Guards Motor Rifle Regiment, part of the 3rd Motor Rifle Division under the 20th Combined Arms Army. It's normally based just across the border at Valyuki in Belgorod oblast. Information from both sides provides useful insights.
12/ The 752nd GMMR likely entered Ukraine on the day of the invasion. Since April it appears to have been fighting near Izyum, east of Kharkiv, where its vehicles were filmed crossing the Siverskyi Donets river around 7 April.
13/ Sources on both sides say it has suffered very heavy casualties, losing many tanks and other vehicles. One of the Russian soldiers who fought with the 752nd GMMR subsequently quit and posted a long and detailed account on LiveJournal which provides many details.
14/ Viktor Shayga had previously served as a conscript. 12 days after the war started, he decided to join the army after seeing "a video [on YouTube] of our (Russian) captives and wounded being abused by these inhumans from the Ukrainian armed forces".
15/ After a brief period of training, he was sent to the front line south of Izyum, where he fought through April and May in bloody battles to capture the villages of Sulyhivka and Dovhen'ke. His experiences ultimately led him to quit. But what motivated him to fight?
16/ Shayga and many of his colleagues clearly fully believed Putin's propaganda about Ukraine's 'Nazi' government. They had "the desire and readiness to crush this Banderite scum till the very end."
17/ Stepan Bandera was a Ukrainian nationalist leader who was assassinated by the KGB in 1959. He was and still is reviled by the Soviet and now Russian authorities. It's fair to say that his legacy is contested and controversial in Ukraine and elsewhere. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Ba…
18/ "The ideas of Bandera and Nazism are very strong in Ukraine", Shagya writes. "In fact, the official authorities in Ukraine since 2014 were constantly saying that Ukraine is at war with Russia."
19/ "And all the politics in Ukraine were pro-Banderite and aimed at destroying everything Russian in Ukraine – the language, culture, people who had positive attitudes towards Russia."
Shayga also repeats Putin's (false) propaganda about Russia being threatened by Ukraine.
20/ "Ukraine shelled the peaceful population of Donbas for eight years – that’s a 100% fact, in my opinion. As well as the fact that Ukrainian army could attack Donbas and Crimea ... [and] that USA could place in Kharkiv nuclear missiles that could reach Moscow in 5-7 minutes."
21/ So at least in his own mind, he justified his involvement by rationalising it as defending his motherland and the Russian-speakers of eastern Ukraine from threats by Ukrainian nationalists and the Americans.
22/ He claims to have also been motivated by the supposed abuse of Russian captives, which he says is evidence of Ukrainian barbarism: "[O]ur captives are abused, maimed, killed – only scum is capable of this, not people. Such subhumans must be destroyed physically."
23/ According to Shayga, "the Banderites walked along the trenches at night, shouting – ‘Russians, surrender!’, and single shots could be heard. "As I understand they were finishing off the wounded…"
24/ Given the lack of any physical evidence, this may simply indicate that the Ukrainians were trying to freak out and demoralise the Russians in positions nearby. But the belief in Ukrainian atrocities may have had deadly consequences for one group of Russians.
25/ Shayga describes how a Russian reconnaissance unit saw a group of Russian soldiers being led off into captivity by Ukrainian soldiers. The Russians "decided to strike all of them with [anti-tank guided missiles] ...
26/ "both ours and Ukrainians, just so ours wouldn’t get captured and tortured. In my opinion that was the right thing to do, it’s better to die instantly like that than be tortured for days in the hands of these inhumans."
(Not sure the captured Russians thought the same.)
27/ Although Russian propaganda has often systematically dehumanised Ukrainians as a whole, characterising them as primitive brutes, Shayga takes a slightly more enlightened perspective. He acknowledges:
28/ "In Ukraine, like in any other country, there are many good, kind and peaceful people who are far from politics and just want to have a peaceful and happy life."
As evidence, he cites two specific Ukrainian people - blogger Anatoly Shariy and journalist Olesya Medvedeva.
29/ Both are highly problematic individuals who are far from representative of Ukrainian opinion. Shariy, who is currently detained in Spain on an international arrest warrant, has been described as "odious" for his views. news.yahoo.com/anatoly-shariy…
30/ Olesya Medvedeva is a pro-Russian journalist and commentator who has, among other things, praised Russia's governance of the annexed Crimea and promoted Russia's completely bogus conspiracy theories about supposed "US biolabs" in Ukraine.
31/ So it's clear that Shayga's informational diet is completely polluted: he's getting information exclusively from (pro-)Russian propaganda sources, which he fully believes. Sadly, this is true of a lot of Russians. Putin has trapped a lot of people in his propaganda bubble.
32/ Other soldiers were more materialistic. Shayga comments that "there were cunning and savvy people who came just for the money and to receive a combat veteran’s certificate. And they were coming being sure they’ll be in safety – somewhere in the rears and checkpoints."
33/ Earning a certificate would make it easier to get a job and other benefits after military service. Shayga acknowledges that "fine and decent people" were also present and fighting on the front lines, "but they still came to earn 300-400,000 rubles in a month." ($5,000-6,500).
34/ "There were also many of those who were first and foremost coming to help, and not for the money… It’s obvious that almost everyone needs money, but for this category of people money and subsidies were of a secondary value, and in many ways not important or needed…"
35/ Despite the strength of the propaganda, however, it wasn't enough to convince Shayga and many of his comrades to stay and fight in Ukraine for more than a couple of months. Only "10-20% of the volunteers have stayed", he writes, indicating a huge number of quitters.
36/ In the next thread, I'll look at the factors which convinced Shayga that despite his support for the war's aims, it was futile for him to be involved in it. /end
1/ Russian soldiers are complaining that their Mad Max-style modified vehicles, with camouflage and anti-drone protection, are attracting fines (and demands for bribes) from traffic cops because they are no longer compliant with traffic regulations. ⬇️
2/ As previously reported, traffic police in Russia's border regions have reportedly been systematically fining Russian troops driving vehicles to the front lines. Russian warbloggers have been giving more details about the situation.
1/ It's now only a few hours until Donald Trump makes his big tariff announcement, but nobody should think that there is any kind of plan behind it. It's all about Trump's desire for domination and long-held crank economic views.
2/ "He “likes the shock and awe,” a White House official said, and aims to capitalize on it. “Each country needs to panic and call. … Trump wants to hear you grovel and say you’ll cut a deal.”"
3/ As Paul Krugman says, "Since most of our trading partners aren’t in a groveling mood, trade war seems inevitable."
He's also right to say there's no secret agenda or 4D chess behind Trump's plan.
1/ The Russian army is forcing mobilised men to sign contracts to become professional soldiers, or face death in suicidal assaults against Ukrainian positions. It likely aims to save money on salaries and ensure that the men can't go home if a ceasefire is declared. ⬇️
2/ The private Telegram channel 'ZOV Insider' has published a recording of the Chief of Staff of Engineers of the 82nd Motorised Rifle Regiment, Captain Yuri Mikhailovich Grechukhin, in which he threatens to send his men to a stormtrooper unit unless they sign contracts:
3/ "Mobilised servicemen, [if you] fucking don't sign the contract, fuck it. A fucking contract is being made. Tomorrow, all the fucking mobilised who stand here, fuck, I'm handing over to storm, fuck. All of them, for fuck's sake. No fucking exceptions. All of them.
1/ A real estate agent in Russia has aroused controversy for proposing a get-rich scheme: marry a Russian soldier and wait for him to get killed in order to claim his death benefits. Outraged Russian warbloggers say that such schemes are real and need to be stopped. ⬇️
2/ Marina Orlova, founder of the Tomsk agency "Real Estate Empire", has shared a "working plan" for Russian women over 30 to buy an apartment. "It's all easy and simple," she says, "You find a man who serves in the Special Military Operation. He dies, you get 8 million."
3/ Orlova says that "many people" use this scheme now. Not surprisingly, it has prompted outrage and has resulted in calls for her to be investigated. She says her statement was made as a "joke between girlfriends" in an interview and has apologised.
1/ A new poll shows a sharp rise in the number of Republicans who consider Canada, Ukraine and the EU to be enemies of the United States, and a drop in both Republicans and Democrats who consider Russia to be hostile. It shows the impact of Donald Trump's rhetoric. ⬇️
2/ The Economist has published a YouGov poll showing how Trumpian rhetoric and agitation by pro-Trump outlets such as Fox News has transformed Republicans' views towards America's former allies, which have now been recast as enemies.
3/ Before the 2024 election, 12% of Republicans saw Canada as an enemy, and 17% saw the EU similarly. Those figures are now 27% and 29%, having doubled since Trump's return to the presidency.
1/ Russia aims to make up its huge war losses and declining population by encouraging schoolchildren to marry at 18, as part of a "special demographic operation." Some regions have introduced bonus payments for pregnant schoolgirls. ⬇️
2/ Russian schools are to introduce a new course called "Family Studies", to be mandated for students at grades 5-9. The textbooks have already been developed. One section encourages schoolchildren to marry at the age of 18 and highlights the state's support for young families.
3/ This includes benefits for families with children, maternity payments, mortgages for young families, and state support for large families. Parents with seven or more children are eligible for an 'Order of Parental Glory' medal, established by Putin in 2008.