Russia is “struggling” to give its forces breaks amid its ongoing war with Ukraine, the United Kingdom’s Defense Ministry said on Monday.
What Happened: In a series of tweets, the U.K. Defense Ministry noted various complaints from Russian military spouses, saying a video published on the internet showed them pleading to local politicians to have their husbands return to the country. It added that one Russian military unit is already “mentally and physically exhausted.”
“One woman claimed that personnel of EMD’s 5th Separate Guards Tank Brigade are ‘mentally and physically exhausted because they have been on active combat duty since the launch of the ‘special military operation’ on 24 February 2022,” the Defense Ministry said.
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The ministry further added that the “lack of scheduled breaks” had created personnel issues among Russian military units.
“The lack of scheduled breaks from intense combat conditions is highly likely one of the most damaging of the many personnel issues the Russian MoD is struggling to rectify amongst the deployed force,” it said.
Why It Matters: The Russian military continued with a theater-wide operational pause, indicating that the Russian frontline units are running out of men in Ukraine, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
“This operational pause has been largely characterized by Russian troops regrouping to rest, refit, and reconstitute; heavy artillery fire in critical areas to set conditions for future ground advances, and limited probing attacks to identify Ukrainian weakness and structure appropriate tactical responses. As ISW has previously noted, an operational pause does not mean a complete cessation of hostilities rather than ongoing hostilities are more preparative in nature,” the report added.
Meanwhile, The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that, as of Monday, its forces have killed approximately 37,400 Russian troops and wounded approximately thrice that number, alongside destroying 217 fighters, attack and transport jets.
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