Wives of Russian soldiers appeal for them to be returned home

U

several Russian soldiers are calling for them to be sent home, according to a video released by British defense chiefs on Monday.

Troops of the 5th Separate Guards Tank Brigade, part of Russia’s Eastern Military District, are said to be “mentally and physically” exhausted from their role in the invasion of Ukraine, which began nearly five months ago.

British military chiefs have stressed that the lack of “planned breaks” from intense fighting for Russian forces is a major problem facing Vladimir Putin’s army.

However, they did not comment on the difficulties facing Ukrainian troops, who suffered a series of defeats in Luhansk province in the Eastern Donbass region, where the Russian president is focusing his military campaign.

In its latest intelligence briefing, the Ministry of Defense in London said: “In late June, a Russian-language media agency based in Russia’s far-eastern Lake Baikal region uploaded a video in which the wives of soldiers from the Eastern Military District (EMD) 36th General army directly appealed to a local politician to have their husbands brought home from service in Ukraine.

READ MORE

“One woman claims that personnel of the EMD’s 5th Separate Guards Tank Brigade are ‘mentally and physically’ exhausted” because they have been on active combat duty since the start of the “special military operation” on February 24, 2022.

“The lack of scheduled breaks from intense combat conditions is very likely one of the most damaging of the many personnel issues that the Russian Defense Ministry is struggling to correct among deployed forces.”

The briefing added: “As of Sunday, July 10, artillery bombardment continued in the Northern Donbass sector, but probably without major territorial advances.

“Ukrainian forces continued to exert localized pressure on the Russian defensive line in northeastern Kherson Oblast (province), also likely without achieving territorial gains.”

The US-based military think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), said Russian forces are in the middle of an operational pause in Ukraine.

It added: “This operational pause is largely characterized by regrouping of Russian troops for rest, re-equipment and recovery; heavy artillery fire in critical areas to set the stage for a future ground offensive; and limited reconnaissance attacks to identify Ukrainian weakness and structure appropriate tactical responses.

“As ISW has previously noted, an operational pause does not mean a complete cessation of hostilities, but rather that ongoing hostilities are more preparatory in nature.”

Defense chiefs in Britain, the US and other allied countries are waging an information war against Russia, which is a key part of the conflict in Ukraine, so their claims should be seen in that context.

However, Russian claims should be treated with great caution, given that the Kremlin does not even acknowledge that there is a war in Ukraine and its denials of war crimes and the killing of thousands of civilians are at odds with widespread reports from the conflict zone .