Initial reporting on the deaths of conscripted Russian soldiers forced to fight in Ukraine following President Vladimir Putin’s mobilization order have renewed criticisms over Moscow’s lack of control and command, a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Thursday.
Russian state media reported that five mobilized men from Chelyabinsk, a city roughly 1,160 miles east of Moscow, have already died in combat, but according to the ISW, “pro-war milbloggers” suggest the casualty count is likely much higher.
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Last month, Putin called up some 300,000 men to fight in Ukraine as his forces flagged there, but Western defense officials questioned how well-trained or equipped these men would be given the high casualty count among its contract soldiers.
According to Russian milbloggers, one commander from the 58th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District, Mikhail Zusko, apparently ordered the “immediate deployment without any pre-combat training of newly mobilized servicemen.”
These conscripts were sent to fight for the 15th Regiment in 27th Motor Rifle Brigade in one of the most brutal warfronts in Ukraine near the city of Svatove in Luhansk.
Milbloggers reported that half of this regiment was later found by relatives at a Russian hospital in the Belgorod Oblast, roughly 40 miles from Ukraine, after the unit came under heavy fire when attempting to reach the frontline near Svatove.
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Zusko, who was previously arrested for the high number of troop deaths under his watch, reportedly deployed these mobilized soldiers without direct orders, command structure or even supplies.
Another milblogger said they had witnessed coffins of recently mobilized men being delivered to Chelaybinsk, Moscow and Yekaterenburg, a city roughly 1,100 miles from Moscow.
One milblogger on Thursday complained that “newly mobilized men are being deployed in a haphazard way that will lead to 10,000 deaths and 40,000 injuries among them by February 2023,” the report said.
It is unclear how many Russian soldiers have died since the war began.
Russia claimed last month that some 6,000 troops have been killed, while Ukrainian and Western estimates are drastically higher.
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The Pentagon has said that between 70,000-80,000 Russian soldiers have been injured and killed since fighting began nearly eight months ago.
Kyiv’s estimates are even higher, with its defense ministry claiming that over 64,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, including 500 on Thursday alone, though these figures have not been independently verified.
Hundreds of thousands fled Russia following Putin’s order and thousands have allegedly looked to surrender to Ukraine.
