Russian mass media has published the complaints of Russian soldiers in Ukraine and their relatives received from February to July, in particular regarding the interference of PMC Wagner [a network of mercenaries who serve as the de facto private army of Russian President Vladimir Putin – ed.] in the activities of the army and covert mobilisation.
Source: [Latvia-based Russian media outlet] Meduza referring to the reports of the Soldiers’ Mothers of Russia movement
Details: Every month, these human rights defenders have compiled reports in which they record the most important appeals received from military personnel and their relatives. During the six months of the war against Ukraine they have received about 400 appeals.
Judging by the reports of the human rights defenders, in February-March, the main problem of the Russian military in Ukraine was the lack of communication. During these two months, the organisation received 145 appeals, most of which came from relatives of professional soldiers. However, after 24 February, conscripts also stopped being in touch [with their relatives].
Quote: “Although the families of professional soldiers, taking into account the data from the report, had at least some idea about the direction of their relatives’ movements (in this regard, as a rule, the information trail ended in Belgorod, Russia, in Belarus or in Crimea), the relatives of the conscripts knew only the starting point – the military unit, where their relative served.”
Details: According to the report, many servicemen stopped communicating with their families even before 24 February. In their appeals, many relatives reported that their relatives were mobilised despite serious health conditions.
Medusa is a well known ‘outlet’ for western, fiercely anti-Kremlin propaganda, based in Latvia, and backed financially by funds working with George Soros and various other oligarchs, as well as European governments, to promote the ‘WEF’-concept of democracy, which is different from mine.
The veracity of the statements cannot be verified, and 400 complaints in six months of serious war doesn’t strike me as overwhelming. I read a couple of these complaints, and wondered what they were about. People get hurt, yes. But looking at videos posted on the internet of Ukrainian soldiers who are getting slaughtered, and call it a day, this entire ‘report’ is only underscoring what critics of western propaganda are saying, that the Russian losses are likely minimal, compared to those on the Ukrainian side.
Wagner is indeed a ‘mercenary army’, very much like this wide range of mercenary armies (PMC’s) used by NATO countries. L3 communications, the Supreme Group, Compass Security, Service Employees International, DynCorp, Aegis, to name just a few. The UN issued a Convention which called for a ban on such organisations in 1989, but the US and the UK were not among the signatories, and used them heavily in every war since the start of this century. Thousands of ’employees’ were killed ‘in action’ in various wars. Wagner is a relatively recent addition to this family. And Ukraine is relying on these PMC’s too. The presence of ‘guns for hire’ is a problem when they are not controlled by a central command structure. Since this piece describes Wagner as Putins private army, that problem has been tackled on the Russian side, apparently. But I’m not so sure that Kiev has the same level of control over the hired hands mounting the guns on the Ukrainian side, and that is a serious headache!
Yes. Meduza is the last place on earth to look for objective outlooks on Russia with the exception of much of the Ukrainian media and UK Daily Telegraph. They did do some OK corruption coverage pre SMO. Want a far more damaging take on the scoundrels that do in fact exist in the Russian military? Look no further than Igor Ivanovich Strelkov. And he would and has marched over hill over dale and will meet the dusty trail for Mother Russia. He still refers to Shoigu as the Plywood Marshal as of a few days ago at least.
Surprisingly to me I found this in the kiev independent recently:
https://kyivindependent.com/investigations/suicide-missions-abuse-physical-threats-international-legion-fighters-speak-out-against-leaderships-misconduct
Which reports serious abuses by Ukrainian commanders especially regarding the foreign fools who went to fight for this regime. Suicide missions. Looting. Sexual harassment of female medical personnel. Drawing a loaded gun on an American volunteer and demanding he give up his equipment etc.
Jake,
L3 is a mercenary outfit engaged in combat? ” People get hurt, yes.” You must really be desperate to post something that poorly researched. Combat casualties include a lot of dead and permanently maimed soldiers. If you want to fisk the article do it correctly or not at all.
“in February-March, the main problem of the Russian military in Ukraine was the lack of communication. ”
Operational security, and mom didn’t hear from her kids? No shock, and not much in opsec either given how the VDV got shot up in the not so super-secret action near Kiev.
“In May, military personnel and their relatives often complained about the punishment meted out for refusing to participate in ….”
Do they have forced vaccinations in the Russian Marines like we have in the US?
https://www.stripes.com/branches/marine_corps/2022-08-23/marine-japan-coronavirus-discharge-7076715.html
(See how that’s spun, Jake?)
BTW who is “Service Employees International” The only hits Google brings up is the union, SEIU, which is decidely not a mercenary outfit.
“The main problem in the Russian army in July was the intervention of PMC Wagner in the activities of the regular troops.”
That sounds like there’s an actual problem within the ground forces of the Russian Federation. Not a good sign for them at all.
Fred,
The (parent) companies listed in my reply are mentioned on Wiki, and you can find them by searching for ‘PMC military Wiki’. The reason for mentioning them was to highlight the fact that the phenomenon is often presented as if Russia invented private armies. Instead, they were late in the game.
And I’m not interested in spinning anything. My beef is with Medusa as a source, which is not ‘Russian mass media’, but a Latvian propaganda outlet, paid for by certain private and government parties active in supporting everything which may hurt the Kremlin. Therefore the complaints could be valid, or part of a disinformation campaign meant to support certain (mis-) conceptions they want us to believe in. You are taking the readers digest version (‘many complaints’) in this article at face value, to extrapolate from them and confirm a reading you hold to be true. Which may very well be the whole idea behind it. I’m just being careful since ‘our side’ is spinning the news 24/7, and it is making me dizzy. I take a step back to look at the carousel itself.
Jake,
“You are taking…”
NO. I am taking your comments seriously, until I verify you are nothing but a third rate pro-Russian troll. See L3 Communications is just like Wagner group mercenaries as yet another example. Followed by SEI but not searching with the name you used the first time, but now use a special term, but on wikipedia. Right. Please stop wasting our time.
Jake your post is an insubtle assertion that the UM can’t keep control of its guns for hire but the RM can. Sometimes mercenaries are hard to control. The Brits had this problem in America with the Iroquis. Romans experienced this problem too putting non Roman citizens in entire legions. You may get your wish for a Ukrainian defeat if this fight goes into ’23. I don’t believe the Ukrainians have the resources for that long. Unless western Europe gets serious about backing Ukraine, despite a cold winter, real costs, and standing up for their own independence, the long game favors Russia. The defeat for Ukrainian independence should terrify the Finns/Balts/ and Slovaks. After all, these people are no more than unter mensch to the “great Russians”.
Bill,
I do not wish anything. I’m simply observing. And drawing conclusions from material offered. If the introduction lists Wagner as a private army of Vladimir Putin, my conclusion is that they are unlikely to do anything he doesn’t approve of. Hence, the same authority as that driving the military. No tension there. But in Ukraine we’ve seen a recent flurry of changes in government, and there is no doubt in my mind that NATO is packing a bigger punch when it comes to telling those PMC’s what to do, than Zelensky or any of his generals. Probably an oligarch or two has have their own private mercenaries too.
…and yet the UA is cracking, the Kherson “counteroffensive” never happened, Keeeev is functionally bankrupt, and Western analysts still expect us to believe that the UA has only only suffered 9,000 KIA in six months.
Ok.
Matthew where, exactly, did you hear Ukraine has “only” had 9M deaths in 6 months? Which western analysts have reported this. Common sense would say it is much higher. Who is telling you this?
Right the Kherson counter offensive has not happened. I wonder (not a prof military guy) if the UM is thinking we have 10M Russ troops pinned down w/no where to go so why waste lives or ammo to smash them further when they are out of action? I’d love to hear from some of the ex-GIs what they think about this.
Kiev (isn’t that how its spelled?) is bankrupt. Slavs, Finns, and Balts better send the Ukies some dinero if they want them to continue the fight for Slavic/Baltic independence. No talk, a lot of money.
I dunno if the UA is cracking. Who reported that. Armies need men, food, leadership, ammo, equipment, and medicine. That costs money so we are back to the buck. Have the Balts considered their future if Ukraine falls? If they can’t rally round Ukraine maybe the Russians are right about them; they’re just unter mensch.