The Russian commander of the “Vostok” Battalion fighting in southern Ukraine said on Thursday that Ukraine will not be defeated and suggested that Russia freeze the war along current frontlines.
Alexander Khodakovsky made the candid concession yesterday on his Telegram channel after Russian forces, including his own troops, were devastatingly defeated by Ukrainian marines earlier this week at Urozhaine in the Zaporizhzhia-Donetsk regional border area.
“Can we bring down Ukraine militarily? Now and in the near future, no,” Khodakovsky, a former official of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, said yesterday.
“When I talk to myself about our destiny in this war, I mean that we will not crawl forward, like the [Ukrainians], turning everything into [destroyed] Bakhmuts in our path. And, I do not foresee the easy occupation of cities,” he said.
There’s been plenty of court cases and firings over improperly handled conscriptions. Prison inmates IIRC weren’t conscripted but given a choice. Plenty of Ukrainians – also men – returned from other European countries to fight, left countries where they had a free welfare ride and working permits. Plenty of women fight in the army. It surely must be terrible over there /s.
Meanwhile Russia is force-conscripting pretty much any man they can get their hands on and sending them, without equipment, into meat grinders. Have a look at Storm Z units.
Yeah, one lesson I’ve taken from this conflict, is if you ever get conscripted into a modern war, don’t fucking go, because someone in power probably wants you dead. You’ve got russia on one side trying to smash their own domestic fascists and dwindle their numbers (see Wagner in Bahkmut) and you’ve got Ukraine trying to burn through anyone they think might have Russian sympathies. It’s just a shitty situation all around, and of course it usually affects the poorest.
The point remains this is going to go on until the west, or better yet, the people of Ukraine can acknowledge the reality of the situation and muster the phrase “territorial concessions”. Continuing to expend lives on the idea of retaking Crimea is not a path to victory.
Technically they fired every conscription officer in the country for bribery so I’m not sure that really supports your case.