Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Russia is systematically sending badly wounded men back into combat, often denying them medical treatment. Previously, men were allowed to recuperate or leave the army if seriously injured; now, death appears to be the only way out for many. ⬇️

https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1889322319052410987

2/ The independent Russian news outlet Okno Press reports that since November 2024, the Russian army has routinely been sending men with category D (unfit) fitness ratings back to Ukraine to fight in the front lines. The army has ignored court rulings to release them.

3/ Okno highlights a number of cases. One man from the Tver region, Ilya Kovalenko, was mobilised in September 2022. He was badly wounded by shrapnel in October 2023 and was taken to hospital. He is now only able to walk with crutches due to nerve damage.

4/ Despite being rated unfit for service, he was sent to the 15th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade in Samara where he now faces being sent back to Ukraine. Although the Tver Garrison Court ruled in favour of dismissing him, the army has refused to release him.

5/ Kovalenko's lawyer laments: "Despite the court's decision, he may end up on crutches under fire. We simply cannot influence the commanders, even the court cannot tell them what to do."

His case is only one of many.

6/ The 'Mobilisation News' Telegram channel reports on the case of lya Shabet, who was sent to the front along with various other injured and sick soldiers, some of whom are only still mobile with the aid of crutches.

7/ Shabet was rated category D with a complete exemption from military service, but the army has ignored this as well as his appeals to the military prosecutor.

8/ Not surprisingly, injured soldiers are not combat effective. Only 14 out of 74 men from his group, serving with the 27th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, have survived two months of fighting. All have sustained further serious injuries.

9/ A human rights activist in Siberia says that the army has been systematically rounding up the wounded since November 2024, including men with missing limbs. Numerous videos have emerged of wounded men being seized or appealing for help.

https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1887792153390194826

10/ "Before that, my clients, whose cases are pending in court, could at least walk the streets calmly. But in November, they grabbed two of them with category "D" at once.

11/ "One was walking along the street on crutches after being wounded. So, within a few days, he was sent to the border. The second one, with a disabled arm, was sent straight to the front line!

12/ "And since then there has been no contact with him – it's terrible to think that they sent a one-armed man to assault. But, apparently, that's how it is. He's probably already dead."

13/ In what is perhaps a logical extension of this trend, Russian soldiers have complained of being denied medical treatment for serious injuries before being sent back to the front line.

https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1888202464010068300

14/ There have also been videos of seriously injured men at the front lines on crutches, with broken limbs and Ilizarov fixators on their legs. Russian commentators say that the only fitness criterion now seems to be whether a man can hold a rifle.

https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1881659685461168531

15/ This is not simply a case of putting wounded men in trenches to hold the line. Videos have emerged showing injured Russians using crutches and walking sticks to attack Ukrainian positions across open fields. Not surprisingly, few survive.

https://x.com/JimmySecUK/status/1880632557429301563

16/ Russian warbloggers blame this on a variety of factors – a shortage of manpower, a constant need to replace daily heavy casualties, brutal commanders who lie about their losses, and a system that sees men simply as expendable assets. /end

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1887426723798564884

Source:
sibreal.org/a/na-kostylyah…