Business on Blood: “Russians Do Not Abandon Theirs”

Ivan Sichen

 

One of the trends in Moscow’s information campaign to justify Putin’s war against Ukraine is the slogan ‘”Russians do not abandon theirs”. How they “do not abandon” them — we saw back in April 2022 in the north and northeast of our country and in August-May last year — in Kharkiv region. But that’s not all. According to Russian tradition, on the war and related problems (including the grief of ordinary citizens), various kinds of fraudsters, who use openly criminal schemes, profit. Lately, such “activities” have been steadily spreading and even pro-Moscow media cannot hide it. It can also be considered another reason for Russia’s failures at the front, and therefore attracts attention.

 

To begin with, let’s make a brief historical excursion that testifies to the identity of the problems of the Red Army of the former Soviet Union and the armed forces of today’s Russian Federation. For one, it is well known that at the beginning of the war between Germany and the USSR in the summer of 1941, the Soviet military command actually left several million soldiers and officers of the Red Army to their fate. Most of them died, were captured or were announced missing. And the remains of hundreds of thousands of the dead still remain unburied in forests and fields. Not to mention the disabled who, having returned from the front crippled, not only did not receive proper help from the authorities, but were resettled to remote northern regions of the Soviet Union.

…The Russian Federation is indeed the successor of the Soviet Union, though in the worst sense…

Or another fact. After the war, Soviet scientists, together with representatives of state security services, carried out a closed study of the reasons for starvation of hundreds of thousands of residents of Leningrad in the winter of 1941–1942. To the researchers’ surprise, the official volumes of food supplies from the unoccupied territories of the USSR to the blockaded city across Lake Ladoga by water and ice roads, as well as by transport aircrafts, could have fully provided food for citizens at an average level of consumption. But this did not happen. Why? Because the transported food was massively plundered by military quartermasters and local authorities both in the rear and in the city surrounded by Germans.

Similarly, the intendants plundered food, fuel and other army property, which could not but affect the combat capabilities of the troops. This was one of the main reasons for the defeat of the Red Army at the front. This is exactly what is observed today, although so far on a smaller scale. The Russian Federation is indeed the successor of the Soviet Union, though in the worst sense…

In all armies of civilized countries of the world, it is customary that each command/commander, responsible for performing combat missions, bears special responsibility for personnel, weapons, documents, etc. Of course, during a war or armed conflict, it is rather difficult to preserve and secure all this, because losses are inevitable. At the same time, it is criminal to use or destroy people or weapons just like the commanders of the Russian troops in Ukraine do.

It is known that Russian military, who for various reasons lagged behind their units in the north and north-east of Ukraine, until mid-May 2022 were still emerging from the forests and surrendering to Ukrainian troops. While the commanders simply forgot about their subordinates, considering them “missing”. During the retreat, Russian troops left behind a lot of their military equipment, which got stuck in swamps and fields or was left without fuel. It should be noted that Russian military units were withdrawn from those Ukrainian regions in a more or less organized manner.

While from the north-east of Kharkiv region, they fled in panic. Moreover, both Russian solders (mostly forcibly conscripted from among the population of the occupied territories of the Donbas) and military equipment with ammunition were abandoned again. Both in the first and second cases, the equipment after repair was used by Ukrainian units.

…The Russian military command cares exclusively about its own interests, including personal enrichment…

Foreign and Ukrainian experts have repeatedly named the reasons for this situation. They can be supplemented by the criminal actions of the Russian military command, which cares exclusively about its own interests, including personal enrichment at the expense of looting in Ukraine and theft of property of its own troops. Humanitarian aid sent by Ukraine and international organizations to civilians from the occupied territories constantly gets into the hands of the commanders. Following the example of their commanders, privates and sergeants of the Russian army and navy do the same.

Since 2014, we have repeatedly heard and seen how Russian attackers robbed the population, shops, warehouses, enterprises, banks and various institutions in the occupied territories of Ukraine. However, even before the outbreak of war against Ukraine, military warehouses with fuel, food, material property and other supplies were massively plundered in Russia, as well as a significant part of military, auxiliary and transport equipment located at long-term storages was dismantled or sold. The mass spread of such phenomena has escalated into acute problems with the logistics of Russian troops on the fronts in Ukraine.

…Another source of problems can be considered corruption in the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation…

Another source of such problems can be considered corruption in the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation. Here is just one example. At the beginning of this year, the FSB of Russia began to investigate into the facts of economic crimes by the management of the Zvezda-Strela plant in Taganrog, Rostov region, in particular, crimes in the execution of state orders. Among other things, the cost of parts and components for tactical missiles was significantly overestimated, which caused losses to the budget in the amount of 800 million rubles.

The same crimes was covered by the command of the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. In March 2023, the FSB of the Russian Federation arrested the chief of the auto-armored service of the military district’s technical support department and his accomplices. The grounds for the arrest are the theft and sale of parts for tanks.

…With the beginning of the “special operation” in Ukraine, the number of crimes with the use of firearms in Russia has increased by 30–40 percent…

Besides, Russian servicemen in the combat zone on the territory of Ukraine steal small arms and ammunition in order to illegally deliver them to Russia. Some of the stolen arms fall into the hands of criminals, which already affects the criminal situation in the country. According to Russian law enforcement agencies, with the beginning of the “special operation” in Ukraine, the number of crimes with the use of firearms in Russia has increased by 30–40 percent.

Almost every day, Russian military and other persons trying to smuggle weapons and ammunition are detained on the Russian-Ukrainian border. In addition, weapons caches are systematically found in the border areas of Russia. It is seized, and persons who smuggle or store it are prosecuted. Border guards, Rosgvardia and the FSB of the Russian Federation are trying in vain to somehow prevent this process.

…Scams are also spreading in Russia related to the offers of fraudsters to relatives of missing servicemen…

Scams are also spreading in Russia related to the offers of fraudsters to relatives of missing servicemen. Fraudsters promise to find them for a lot of money. “Helpers” call themselves volunteers, clairvoyants or even commanders of military units. They get in touch with relatives of soldiers and officers through social networks, and after receiving the promised money, delete all correspondence and block users.

For adding a serviceman to prisoner exchange lists, the fraudsters demand at least 700 thousand rubles; for a call to a wounded person who is in hospital — up to 800 rubles; for a “clairvoyant’s rite to determine the location of a serviceman — up to 5 thousand rubles; for transportation of the body of the deceased — up to 30 thousand rubles.

At this, relatives of soldiers and officers are promised all sorts of troubles up to the shooting of a soldier. So, relatives sometimes sell all their property in order to collect money demanded by fraudsters, but to no result.

…A separate type of corruption activity in Russia is the release of criminals from prisons and penal colonies through the private military campaign “Wagner”…

A separate type of corruption activity in the Russian Federation is the release of criminals from prisons and penal colonies through the private military campaign “Wagner”. First of all, this is resorted to by criminal “leaders” and businessmen convicted of economic crimes. They have money to bribe unit commanders for terminating their participation in the war “as a result of injury”. Currently, there are more released criminals than mobilized persons who returned home due to injuries. Their fate is completely different.

Those who had money, managed to pay off service at the stage of conscription in military commissariats. Others are not released even if they are seriously injured. Moreover, doctors in hospitals deliberately change diagnoses, reducing the severity of injuries, as well as delay the provision of certificates according to which servicemen can receive compensation. This creates grounds for the military’s return to the front, and saves budget funds as well. However, this type of medical “activity” can also be redeemed. If you have the money…

…Another form of frauds and corruption has been illegal actions related to Russia’s construction of defensive lines…

Lately, another form of frauds and corruption has been illegal actions related to Russia’s construction of defensive lines on the Russian-Ukrainian border and those sections of the front line where a counteroffensive by Ukrainian troops is expected. Thus, local authorities of the Russian Federation, occupation administrations and contractors increase the cost of construction work and materials, and distribute the profit among themselves. This objectively reduces the quality of engineering barriers. This situation provokes sharp criticism from some revanchist forces in Russia, including the communists, to whom, however, no one pays attention.

Of course, within one article it is impossible to cite all the manifestations of the problems in the Russian troops. But even such examples are enough to draw certain conclusions.

…Just like the entire Russia, its law enforcement agencies and the military-industrial complex are completely and at all their levels engulfed in frauds  and corruption…

Just like the entire Russian Federation, its law enforcement agencies and the military-industrial complex are completely and at all their levels engulfed in frauds  and corruption. Such a country cannot defeat Ukraine, let alone the United States and NATO. That is why Moscow relies on the information “zombifying” of the Russian population, on the organization of various “victory frenzy” (pobedobesie) holidays in order to demonstrate the “greatness” of Russia. It terrorizes civilians in Ukraine with long-range missiles, massively uses rightless “cannon fodder” at the front, and continues subversive work against the West. However, it will never be able to achieve its goals regarding our state. According to President of Ukraine V. Zelenskyi, Russia’s latest missile strikes on peaceful cities and civilian infrastructure only unite the Ukrainian nation around ideas to counter the aggressor and destroy it.

 

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