Thread...
Unsure of this group or the veracity of its reports but it would explain much of why the Russian army is breaking down the way it is...
Also, holy sheep shit.
@Render this jives with what's been reported on the Russian military over the past ~15 years: they have a small core of professional soldiers, augmented by mercenaries, and most of their numbers are young, green conscripts mainly suited for garrison duty. During the run-up to the invasion, all this talk of "180k+ troops ready to invade" didn't sound right to me; I didn't think there were 180k veteran, well-equipped troops that were going to advance into Ukraine.
@Render I remain skeptical - the information battlefield is well-prepared by both sides with propaganda that casts the opponent as weak - but there is mounting evidence (like this thread) that many of those numbers are boys barely old enough to shave that were thrust into a war they didn't know they were going to fight, not even boys who had been in uniform for a year and used to the rhythms of military life.