Smoke fills street in aftermath of Russian rocket attack on residential area of Kyiv
Many Russian troops are being compelled to serve in Ukraine with "serious" health problems, while those forced to build trenches under fire are likely to have suffered "particularly heavy casualties", British defence experts believe.
A number of "common themes" are emerging in the experience of Moscow’s mobilised reservists, according to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), with their deployment often characterised by "inadequate" training and personal equipment.
An MoD defence intelligence update suggests the Kremlin will likely be concerned that an increasing number of families are prepared to risk arrest by protesting against the conditions their relatives face at war.
Earlier the MoD said Russian reservists are being killed “in large numbers” in frontal assualts in Donetsk Oblast.
In its latest update, the ministry of defence said: “Mobilised reservists have highly likely experienced particularly heavy casualties after being committed to dig ambitious trench systems while under artillery fire around the Luhansk Oblast town of Svatove”.
The defence intelligence added that the eligibility of Russian reservists has often been questionable, and the training and equipment they are given is “inadequate”.
