It was likely only a matter of time until the Russian army completely disintegrated in Ukraine, as pressure mounts on the ill-equipped fighting force.
From the moment that 70-year-old Russian tanks and decades-old trucks began breaking down on the way into Ukraine back in February, the world knew that the myth of Moscow’s military might was fading. Now that the Kremlin has been forced to conscript 300,000 untrained civilians to serve as cannon fodder, the dissent has quickened dramatically.
In footage taken inside a military camp, one uniformed conscript earns raucous cheers from his peers after suggesting soldiers should topple their leaders.
The unnamed reservist spoke about the lack of respect soldiers hold for Putin and his commanders, berating an unseen official for using threats to get people to join the cause.
He mocked a policy in his region – the Tuva republic in Siberia – to gift a ram to each family of those mobilised.
‘You give our families, children, a manky ram [sheep], and some groceries,’ he said, adding disparagingly: ‘What is this?’
And that wasn’t all:
In his heroic address – for which he could face severe punishment in Putin’s Russia – the reservist told his top brass officers ‘threatened us’ when they were drafted.
‘They told us that if we didn’t go there [to Ukraine], they would put us in jail,’ he said in his native Tuvan language.
‘They wouldn’t help our families, they would stop all payments… There are not enough walkie-talkies for our squads… How will we communicate [in the war zone]?’
The news comes as the Kremlin’s desperation appears to be peaking, with Russian officials now telegraphing a potential false flag attack using a “dirty bomb”.
