Wheeling and Firing: Russia's Desperate Tactic in Ukraine's War
Russia Deploys Mobility-Impaired Troops in combat roles
Let's take an unfiltered, unapologetic look at the harsh realities of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, shall we?
The lives of soldiers in the Russian army aren't exactly valued much higher than disposable items, it seems. Evidence from the battlefield suggests that the wounded are not spared, even those with missing limbs or confined to wheelchairs. A soldier, allegedly a member of a motorized Russian rifle regiment, posted a video on the X-channel of the military blog ChrisO-wiki, expressing his plea for help and appealing to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to save him.
The Frontlines, a Grim Spectacle
The authenticity of the video can't be independently verified, but it aligns with other circulating videos and reports that reveal wounded soldiers, at times dragging themselves along battlefields. In one clip obtained by Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butussov, a Russian infantryman can be seen crawling along the ground while others, motionless behind him, could be either dead or injured.
Another theory suggests that Russia is using wounded soldiers to lure Ukraine's defense forces into wasting their drones.
The Ukrainian center for combating disinformation posits a different reasoning: the Russian military might be attempting to locate Ukrainian firing positions by deploying soldiers with physical disabilities, such as those on crutches, into assaults.
Cases of severely injured soldiers being forced back into battle aren't uncommon. footages of a soldier being killed on a field by several drone-dropped grenades have surfaced, for example.
Life as a Russian Warrior: A Nightmare
Reports from Russia exile media Meduza suggest that soldiers suffering severe injuries, such as losing an eye or a limb, are sometimes pressed back into combat roles. A grenadier with only one functional eye and another who had lost a leg in battle, were assigned to the so-called "Recovery Regiment" of the 47th Tank Division after hospital stays, according to an investigation by the journalistic cooperative Bereg. Their purpose, not to recover the fighters, but to return them to the frontlines "like living meat," the report claims, citing two contract soldiers.
In a twisted, postmodern interpretation of the Terminator, one soldier from the same regiment is quoted as saying: "People are sent here with promises of therapy, but they're usually not here long enough to receive treatment, and they just go back to the military special operation. With hepatitis, HIV, no arms, no legs, with shrapnel in the head. I knew someone who had three fingers on his left hand cut off. He was sent back - and a week later, he lost half of his right arm. But that's not a problem - they'll give him a prosthetic, and then he'll be sent back. He'll keep fighting until he looks like the Terminator."
To Russian leaders, soldiers appear to be seen as mere commodities. With casualty numbers skyrocketing and thousands of Russians losing their lives or limbs, it's no wonder that extreme measures are being employed in this deadly game of attrition.
Sources:ntv.de, rog, Meduza, Bereg
Tags:- Attack on Ukraine- Wars and Conflicts- Russia- Military- Disability- Casualties- Manpower- Terminator
Community policies should be enacted to address the inhumane treatment of soldiers in Russia's military, as they are being sent back into war despite severe injuries or disabilities, sometimeseven after losing limbs or contracting life-threatening diseases like HIV.
Politics and the enforcement of general news should highlight the ongoing crisis, as this unfortunate reality aligns with reports of war-and-conflicts in Ukraine, suggesting that Russia may be deploying wounded soldiers for strategic purposes such as locating Ukrainian firing positions or luring defense forces into engaging with drones.
