Thread on Russian manpower shortages in #Ukraine:
One very interesting part of this war has been Ukraine's use of "doxing" Russian soldiers. So far, they have released the details of the 37th Motor Rifle Brigade (OMSBR) and the 5th Guards Tank Brigade from the Eastern MD, the 136th Motor Rifle Brigade from the Southern MD, and the 1st Guards Tank Regiment, 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division of the Western MD. (see link for those details) https://bit.ly/3xEjQrV
These lists are some of the clearest examples of the manpower shortages, likely the result of extreme corruption and graft, that Russia has been facing throughout the war. When a Motorized Rifle Squad (MRS) is budgeted for (and claims to have) 9 men, but the commander only assigns 6, he gets to pocket a fair chunk of change.
It may not seem like a huge deal, but the number of troops in an MRS has a very clear lower limit before it suffers a significant loss of combat effectiveness. Take, for example, a standard MRS maneuver to engage and destroy an enemy squad. The MRS is divided into 3 parts: 2 men in the BMP, 4 men supporting the BMP, and 3 men maneuvering to destroy the enemy.
So, when you deploy with 6 men instead of 9, how do you manage this most basic maneuver? You need 2 in the BMP, so those are locked in. Do you leave one poor schmuck to try to defend the BMP all on his own, while a full maneuver team moves on the enemy? You aren't going to get very good covering fire that way.
The BMP and the support team take positions to fire on, and pin down the enemy squad, while the maneuvering team moves to flank and destroy them. This isn't anything special. Every army in the world practices this maneuver. But it does require a certain number of bodies to execute effectively.