Contract soldiers, reservists, separatists and mercenaries are deployed for Russia in the attack on Ukraine. Apparently, this makes the agreements extremely difficult. A military commander of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic states that friendly troops regularly attack each other.
A large part of the Russian losses in the Donbass can be attributed to shelling by their own troops. The military commander of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), Alexander Khodakovsky, says that up to 60 percent of the casualties since the end of Russian offensive operations in Mariupol in mid-May could be attributed to its own troops. This is reported by the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in its latest situation report.
The information is based on a telegram entry by Chodakowski, in which he gives several examples. Accordingly, among other things, his unit has already been fired at with mortar shells from its own ranks. The mortar battery was located with a helicopter and rushed there, writes Chodakowski. After the firing unit was identified as Russian, he asked: “Why are you shooting at us?”. The answer the separatist leader received was: “We’re not shooting at you, we’re shooting at this point on the map. That’s our job and we’re going to do it.”
In a second example, Chodakowski refers to a longer assignment in an industrial area. One morning, mines were suddenly laid along a path. “Why? A general ordered his engineers to mine the front line. It happened within twenty-four hours – without asking,” writes the commander. “As a result, several men were killed, including a tank crew with a tank company commander who were traveling on foot.”
It is not clear from Khodakowski’s contribution whether the casualty figures relate exclusively to his catchment area in the DNR or to the entire Russian army. According to Ukrainian figures, Russian losses since the beginning of the war amount to more than 75,000 soldiers. Russia is reluctant to provide information on troops killed or wounded.
The military experts from the ISW cannot assess whether this information is correct and whether almost two thirds of the Russian losses are actually due to friendly fire. “But even if that figure is an exaggeration, the fact that a Russian commander publicly speculated about such a damning indicator of the competence of the Russian armed forces and their proxies shows the great challenges facing Russian troops,” the status report said the think tank.
Accordingly, shelling by friendly or friendly troops is usually responsible for a limited number of casualties. However, it does not usually account for anywhere near 60 percent of the total losses, the experts write. If the number is correct, it indicates a lack of communication and coordination of the command and control structures between the Russian armed forces.
Since the first days of the war, there have been repeated reports of missing equipment, poor communication and logistical problems in the Russian army. According to the military observers of the ISW, this situation may not have improved due to constant changes at the top of command, promotion and mobilization of inexperienced soldiers and a motley force consisting of contract soldiers, reservists, separatists and Wagner mercenaries.
