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Aug 19, 2024 31 tweets 8 min read Read on X
1/ Russian conscripts are now fighting, dying and being captured in large numbers in Ukraine's Kursk offensive. As this is the first time that conscripts have been a significant factor in the war, let's look at who the conscripts are and why so many have surrendered. ⬇️ Image
2/ Russia's armed forces are currently made up of four principal groupings: professional ("contract") soldiers, who join voluntarily; mobilised soldiers ("mobiks"), recruited compulsorily; convicts, who sign up in exchange for a pardon; and conscripts, who serve for one year.
3/ Mobiks differ from conscripts in that they are principally older men (and sometimes women) in Russia's reserves who have previously served in the armed forces as contract soldiers or as conscripts. There were estimated to be around 2 million people in this category.
4/ All males from 18-30 are subject to conscription, with all three parts of the Russian armed forces (army, navy and air force) taking conscripts. Exceptions are made for health and other reasons. Evading conscription is punishable with up to 18 months of imprisonment. Image
5/ Conscription is very undesirable (for reasons which we'll cover shortly). As many as 70% of those eligible for conscription buy their way out of it by bribing a doctor or recruiting officer. The 'fee' was reportedly between $5,000-$10,000 in 2007. Image
6/ This drastically skews the demographics of conscription, with the armed forces being left with the poorest and least healthy men to serve as conscripts. This leaves the Russian military with chronic problems of fitness and efficiency.
7/ In 2007, the Russian Air Force reported that 30 percent of the 11,000 men it conscripted annually were "mentally unstable," 10 percent suffered from alcohol and drug abuse, and 15 percent were ill or malnourished. Image
8/ Conscripts are paid a pittance – those currently fighting in Kursk are reportedly being paid $0.75 a day – and as the lowest-ranking soldiers, they are ruthlessly exploited by those above them. This includes older soldiers (dyedi or 'grandfathers') and officers.
9/ For decades, conscripts have been subject to extreme and often lethal forms of hazing and abuse, known as 'dedovshchina' (literally 'reign of the grandfathers'). In 2006, at least 292 Russian soldiers were killed by dedovshchina. 341 soldiers died by suicide in 2007. Image
10/ This has occasionally led to lethal retaliation. In October 2019, 20-year-old conscript Ramil Shamsutdinov shot 10 of his colleagues, killing 8 of them, after being forced to stay awake for days at a time and suffering other forms of abuse. Such torture is frequent. Image
11/ One video shows a young soldier stripped, beaten and then repeatedly pushed, face down, into a toilet. Later, he is show with new iron burns over his back. His tormentors urinate on him. In 2005, a conscript had to have his legs and genitals amputated after being tortured.
12/ Other forms of abuse include doing unpaid labour, being made to sell blood to earn money for the abusers, or being forced into prostitution. Conscripts in St Petersburg were forced by the dyedi to perform sexual services for influential middle-aged clients or face torture. Image
13/ Conscripts receive little or no military training, making them of little use as a fighting force. The mothers of conscripts in the Kursk region have complained that instead of getting any training, their sons were simply used as labour – carrying shells or digging trenches.
14/ A fairly common form of corruption among officers is to use conscripts as unpaid labour to build or maintain their dachas (holiday homes), or hiring them out to businessmen work in building sites, fields or factories – for which the conscripts get no compensation. Image
15/ Russian law forbids conscripts from fighting abroad, but officers have found ways around this. During the Ukraine war, officers have forced conscripts to sign contracts against their wishes by beating them until they gave in.
16/ One officer recalled what he was told by another officer who forcibly recruited conscripts: "Our officers 'reeled in' guys who were conscripted. The officer says before lights out, we have to 'give birth to a contract soldier', and asks who wants to sign a contract.
17/ Nobody wants to, and the guys start swinging until somebody gives up and signs it."

Similarly, conscripts in the Kursk region have reportedly been threatened with being sent to a penal battalion for 7 years unless they sign a contract.
18/ Even without the abuse, conscripts face terrible living conditions. In the Russian Navy's training centre located in Lomonosov, Leningrad Region, conscripts reportedly faced worse conditions than convicts and had to live in abandoned barracks buildings.
19/ "The guys were shoved into an abandoned part where there is no canteen. Imported food is disgusting. There is no hot water. There is mould, dampness and one dryer for 180 people in the barracks."
20/ "Drying socks on radiators is not allowed, everyone wears wet clothes and gets sick. At the same time, there are no medicines, and the paramedic gives only soda and salt to gargle."
21/ Engineering conscripts in Volgograd faced similar conditions: "There are no elementary medicines in the unit's medical centre, and what parents bring must be hidden from the officers (if it is not taken away immediately after receiving the package)."
22/ The collapse of Russia's defences in Kursk is no surprise, as something very similar happened in the Graivoron district of the Belgorod region when the Russian Volunteer Corps briefly invaded in May 2023. It was guarded only by 23 conscripts with one officer and one mobik.
23/ The defenders were routed almost immediately. According to the conscripts, they were not even given brushes and liquids to clean their rifles, radios and other equipment. Those serving on the border were given rifles but no ammunition.
24/ Their mothers said that in six months of service, the conscripts only went to the firing range once or twice, while their commanders submitted false reports about daily training. The men were assigned to military professions that did not correspond to their training.
25/ One conscript was made a medic, although he "didn't even know what aspirin and No-Spa [drotaverine] were for". Others were given old grenade launchers and mortars but no training to fire them. Some were not even trained to use their rifles.
26/ Some of the conscripts were not even given food or water by the army. One conscript told his girlfriend that "they were eating earth there. I laughed and then realised it was no joke." Volunteers and parents brought them fresh clothes and food, which they cooked themselves.
Image
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27/ The conscripts said they were treated badly by their commanders, who made parents feed them as well the conscripts. According to a girlfriend, the officers "drink and get violent", and take out their frustrations on the conscripts under their command.
28/ The men were in place for months, despite repeatedly having been promised they would be rotated out or withdrawn. This didn't happen, despite appeals to the authorities by their mothers. Many became ill and some contracted pneumonia in the cold, damp dugouts. Image
29/ Not surprisingly, morale was low even before the attack. One mother says: "At first the boys had an adventure. Then there was the expectation that they would be relieved, they were promised. And now there is devastation. They feel betrayed and abandoned."
30/ Given that these issues were publicised by Russian outlets, the Ukrainians certainly know about them. It's no surprise that when they attacked in Kursk, resistance appears to have collapsed quickly and conscripts surrendered in large numbers. /end

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More from @ChrisO_wiki

Jul 3
1/ Russian prisoners of war are being sent straight into to front line assault squads after being released from Ukrainian captivity. They are denied family reunions, interrogated by the FSB, and in some cases prosecuted. Many have attempted suicide. ⬇️
2/ Relatives of released Russian POWs have appealed to the Russian authorities to allow their loved ones to return home. Instead, they say, the men are being sent straight back into combat without even being able to see their families.
3/ In one video appeal published last month, the wife of captured Russian soldier Alexey Frolov says that he is awaiting his turn to be exchanged after a year in captivity. She asks the authorities to let him come home, rather than being sent straight back.
Read 17 tweets
Jul 2
1/ Russian Railways is facing a worsening crisis. 300,000 disused railway wagons are congesting the network, entire freight trains have been abandoned for months, there are critical shortages of locomotives and workers, and a major drop in loading across the network. ⬇️ Image
2/ Russian Railways (RZD) has been in trouble for several years. It is facing an extremely severe shortage of staff, with some divisions of the company reportedly as much as 60% understaffed.
3/ RZD's problems have a huge impact on Russia's economy. It handles 47% of all cargo transport in Russia, and as much as 87% if pipelines are excluded. It's vital to the economy and the Russian military alike, as Russia's roads can't accomodate all the freight carried by rail.
Read 19 tweets
Jul 1
1/ Economic distress in Russia is being reflected in a sharp increase from 1 July 2025 in tariffs for housing and municipal services – by up to 40% in some regions. This comes on top of steadily higher tariffs in 2023 and 2024, with an accelerating yearly level of price rises. ⬇️ Image
2/ ASTRA reports that tariffs in the regions will increase by between 8.6% in Amur to 21.1% in Perm. Moscow's tariffs will rise by 15%, the surrounding Moscow Region by 13.3% and St. Petersburg by 14.6%.
3/ Some local authorities can impose their own increases independently of the framework established by the central government. Thus Omsk is increasing its tariffs by 39.6%, and Izhevsk by 38%.
Read 7 tweets
Jul 1
1/ Russians who have lost arms, legs or eyes are being sent into assaults in Ukraine, with little chance of survival. Despite severe injuries, they are either being denied a fitness assessment or are arbitrarily being rated fit. The men call themselves "meat on crutches". ⬇️ Image
2/ A Russian soldier has spoken of his experiences with a so-called 'cripple battalion' – a unit comprised of injured soldiers, which rather than recuperating or being allowed to heal or get treatment, is sent to the front line to take part in fresh assaults.
3/ 37-year-old Anton Savchenko from Tyumen – an ethnic Ukrainian with many relatives in Ukraine – volunteered to go to war in October 2024, saying that he "had to help". However, he soon regretted it, according to his relatives. Within less than a month, he had lost his left eye. Image
Read 21 tweets
Jun 30
1/ Tens of gigabytes of secret data on Russia's strategic electronic warfare systems has been hacked by the pro-Ukrainian Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK). They say that Russia's EW shield is "not just fragile - it's full of holes" due to multiple flaws and vulnerabilities. ⬇️ Image
2/ Two weeks ago, the RDK announced that it had obtained a large quantity of data on Russia's EW systems, including technical specifications, diagrams, official correspondence, equipment setup methods, drawings, test reports, and functional information.
3/ RDK commander 'Fortuna' says that "We got more than just the external appearance. We see the internal logic, architecture, connections between nodes, we know who designed it, which companies supplied the units, which research institutes are responsible for the developments."
Read 24 tweets
Jun 29
1/ Russian soldiers have now been serving for a longer time than any involuntarily mobilised Russian or Soviet troops since 1888, during the Tsarist period nearly 140 years ago. Not surprisingly, this has led many to complain of 'slavery'. ⬇️ Image
2/ The author of the 'Shelter No. 8' Telegram channel is a Russian soldier who joined the army in 2021. As he points out, the 3 years and 9 months he has served so far is approaching a new record for involuntary service since the end of the Tsarist period.
3/ "In Tsarist Russia, with the introduction of conscription, they served in the infantry:

- In 1881-1888 - 5 years.
- In 1888-1906 - 4 years
- I am here with my 3 years and 9 months.
- From 1906 to 1918, they served in the infantry for 3 years.
Read 9 tweets

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