Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Russia is reported to be sending reserve troops to Ukraine, even as its recruitment efforts are faltering. Recently posted videos suggest that reservists are being transported in handcuffs, and men who have lost legs and arms are also being sent into assaults. ⬇️

2/ @ChristopherJM reported today that according to Ukrainian GUR head Vadym Skibitskyi, Russia is preparing for a fresh ground assault with the transfer of 20,000 reserve troops to Ukraine.

https://x.com/ChristopherJM/status/2044745861171671201

3/ The 'Combat reserve' Telegram channel has posted a video (see at the top of this thread) showing handcuffed men in what appears to be a tent. One man complains to a man adjusting their shackles about his difficulty in lying down to sleep.

4/ The channel's author is indignant:

"The question of the quality of the reserves arises.

The footage shows a training session for one of the separate separate brigades. First, recruit a rabble, and then handcuff them?????"

5/ "How can we go into battle tomorrow with this contingent?

And it's IMPOSSIBLE to carry out combat missions with this quality of personnel.

But today, we need to report back to the Supreme Commander as soon as possible on the number of contract soldiers."

6/ "No one talks about quality. Tomorrow, these people will end up dying, and we’ll have to pay 12 million from the budget for each one. And he wasn’t even worth that much on his best day, in peak condition.

7/ "But the money 🤑💰💲💵 is clouding everyone’s judgment, which is why we see these cripples on the front lines.

It’s high time to make concrete decisions regarding the recruitment centres.

Sending such people to the front is sabotage and treason."

8/ The recruitment of blatantly unfit men for the army has been a long-running problem, created by a combination of corrupt incentives for recruiters and the the Russian Ministry of Defence's use of arbitrary recruitment quotas.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/2033829369257283856

9/ Even if men are crippled beyond the point of military utility – such as losing an arm, hand, leg, or foot – they are still sent into assaults. A Russian soldier named Pavel Teluk, who works to retrieve the bodies of the fallen, comments on this in a recently posted video.

10/ "Yes, it happens: they send men without legs or arms into assaults... But the important thing is that these are guys from 'Storm V' and 'Storm Z.' They’re ex-convicts. Those who signed contracts in the prison colonies.

11/ "Unfortunately, I won't hide the bitter truth: yes, it happens. Like without legs, without arms: without a foot, for example, without a hand."

The crippled men are not allowed to retreat, and must fight until they die – which the vast majority do, likely fairly quickly.

12/ "But let's remember that the guys with Storm V and Storm Z, and before that it was Wagner, are in a real mess. These are the most difficult sections of the front. And they can't retreat. Why? Because that’s how it is...

13/ "Statistically, I'll say that, for example, <…> out of 100 people, 20 survive. But that already says a lot." /end

Sources:
🔹 t.me/rodinarussia27…
🔹 t.me/ne_zhdi_novost…