Soldiers Took a Huge Risk in Ukraine, Swiftly Took Leader Prisoner to Stop His Desertion During Risky Battle

It was recently reported that,

Russian soldiers took their commander prisoner to ensure that he did not run away during battle. [i]

According to reports, there has been much conflict within the Russian army, particularly concerning the roles of commanders. In another intercepted phone call, evidence corroborates these claims. While phoning home, the soldier “describes how the unit took their battalion commander prisoner.” [i]

Soldiers are described as harboring “contempt and resentment towards their officer class.” These feelings allegedly arise due to the commander trying “to motivate his unit by threatening to shoot off the legs of anyone who refused to fight,” in addition to claims that the Major was “indifferent to casualties and fail[ed] to lead from the front.” [ii]

The video below details the specifics of the capture of the commander attempting to desert during battle.

Viktor Shyaga, an independent historian, returning from the front lines of Ukraine, stated that the attempts at motivating the soldiers were essentially futile. He said it is because “If the battalion is going to attack, then the battalion commander needs to attack and not sit it out in a BTR or a basement. Our leadership, as I understood, didn’t care about us.” [iii]

These actions precede recent allegations that Russia received multiple requests from “their commander asking for an evacuation vehicle. Unfortunately, their military headquarters didn’t give an order to come back and pick them up. [v]

Ukraine “intercepted radio messages between troops from mercenary Wagner Group and Russian military headquarters.” As a result, reports have indicated a significantly lowered morale among Russian troops. Those fighting were ‘mercenaries,’ hired explicitly to support Russia’s war efforts. The continued reports of lowered morale may indicate a faster climax of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict. [v]

References

[i] John Varga, Russian army mutiny as commander taken prisoner to stop him running away in battle, (Aug. 15, 2022)

[ii] Id.

[iii] Id.

[iv] Warthog Defense, Embarrassing, Russian Soldiers Capture Its Own Commander to Stop Him Escaping From Combat, (Jul. 4, 2022)

[v] Oli smith, Desperate Kremlin ignores Russian troops’ pleas to evacuate in uncovered messages, (Aug. 14, 2022)