Thousands of Russian soldiers may have died within weeks of stepping foot in Ukraine, analysis has suggested.
A report that studied the life and death of 3,000 Russian draftees following Putin’s partial mobilisation last September has provided a damning projection of life in the Kremlin’s “special military operation”.
The findings show that roughly 20 per cent of Russians killed in Ukraine lasted less than two months after they were enlisted.
The actual figures relating to Russian deaths in Ukraine is likely considerably higher than 3,000 since this time last year – US intelligence estimates of Russian deaths for the entire 19-month war are between 120,000 and 130,000 – meaning that the number of short-lived soldiers could be in the thousands.
Of the 3,000 that were confirmed dead, the report found that the average time between enlistment and killed-in-action (KIA) status was just four and a half months.
read more Ukraine bombshell: Millions of EU citizens are praying Putin will win[REPORT]
The findings, posted by Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) and “Important Stories”, were able to document how long each of the 3,000 killed Russians lasted in Ukraine.
Of the 300,000 mobilised, which included this dataset of 3,000, roughly half of them were civilians, according to Pavel Luzin, a Russian political analyst who spoke to Express.co.uk.
The other half, he said, were contracted soldiers who had planned to retire or had expiring agreements.
Many of those civilians were given just a few days worth of training before they were sent into Ukraine and to the frontline.
READ MORE
Satellite images show devastating drone attack on Russian Black Sea base[REVEAL]
Five Bulgarians living in the UK charged with spying for Russia[REPORT]
‘I used to seduce foreign agents for the KGB – now I teach women to get any man'[INSIGHT ]
Vadim Bulatov, 23, for example, a young man from north of Kazakhstan, had just a handful of days of training, according to his brother, before being mobilised to the hottest area of fighting at the time.
“On the 4th he called and said that they were leaving for Kherson,” the brother said. “There was no training: one, two, three – and there it was.”
By October 8, Bulatov had been killed. Less than a month later, Ukraine seized Kherson and forced the remaining Russians south of the Dnipro River, killing many more in the process.
This latest report said several more citizens from the same region as Bulatov were sent to Kherson at the same time.
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
Civilians mobilised last September, many of whom were from poorer, more rural communities of Russia, were already at a heightened risk of dying compared to their professional colleagues.
Coupled with only a few days training before being sent into the most dangerous flashpoint on the frontline, this likely further skewed the number of Russian deaths in favour of the mobilised civilians.
Only four of the mobilised reservists who died in the conflict lasted more than 11 months before being killed, according to IStories and CIT.
The approximately 3,000 draftee deaths were documented by media reports, official announcements and relatives of soldiers who chose to speak publicly.
Source: Read Full Article