Russia's "Will To Fight" Waning

 

Stories of the shambolic Russian armed forces in Ukraine, with their poor leadership, logistical collapse, poor morale and inadequate training and equipment have surfaced ever since their brutal invasion last February 24. Setting aside the mounting evidence of mass war crimes, which is being collected and processed by international investigators and jurists, war criminal Vladimir Putin's forces are gradually being pushed back. CNN's John Blake looks at the history of battle, and presents evidence that Putin's forces could suffer a breakdown in the near future:

"What causes armies to lose the will to fight? And how might that play out with the Russian army in Ukraine?

This is the question that CNN asked combat veterans and military historians. While history is full of embattled armies like the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II, which fought with ferocious intensity even though they knew they would not win, it also records other armies that 'quiet quit' — stopped attacking the enemy or did the bare minimum to stay alive.

Russia’s troops may be approaching that precipice, says Jeff McCausland, a combat veteran of the Gulf War and a visiting professor of international security studies at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.

He says it’s become clear that the Russian army is poorly trained and supplied, and that its soldiers in many cases have lost their will to fight."  (our emphasis)

CNN's Blake goes on to list three factors involved in an army losing the will to fight: losing faith in their cause, losing faith in their leaders, and losing the support of their country. Putin has falsely asserted that Ukraine is run by "Nazis", despite having a Jewish president, and that Ukraine isn't a real country but part of his delusional, greater imperial Russia. Only the most ideological soldiers in the field buy that, but rather see themselves invading a "brotherly" country for a land grab. Second, the haughty Putin has rarely visited with his troops -- and certainly not in occupied Ukraine -- and remains an aloof figure, often pictured sitting at the end of a long table while his officials sit at the other. His errors in underestimating Ukraine's resolve to remain free and his botched invasion "strategy" have prompted public criticism, even in his inner circle. Finally, the exodus of hundreds of thousands of mobilization-aged men from Russia, along with tens of thousands of Russia's most capable and educated citizens, has shown the troops that the internal support for Putin's war is shaky, and that they're the "cannon fodder" for his delusions of grandeur. 

The fear and panic among the newly-mobilized front line Russian troops may snowball into fear and panic among the military leadership on the ground in Ukraine and within Russia itself, and that would be the best gift to a surging Ukrainian army.