Russian bloggers ‘shocked’ by ‘incompetence’ of Ukraine’s military: report

Russian mini-bloggers are “shocked” by their military’s “incompetence” as Russian President Vladimir Putin presses ahead with his internationally condemned invasion of Ukraine, a new report says.

Moscow launched an unprovoked all-out attack on its eastern European neighbor on February 24, drawing a swift backlash from the majority of United Nations General Assembly countries. Although the Kremlin reportedly believed that Russian forces could easily seize control of much of Ukraine’s territory and overthrow the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, they have largely failed in their objectives.

After reports surfaced on Wednesday that Ukraine had destroyed a Russian unit attempting to cross the strategically important Siversky Donets river in Ukraine’s south-eastern Donbass region, several Russian observers of the conflict were reportedly alerted. Drone footage has since confirmed reports of the Russian unit being destroyed, the Atlantic Council reported on Friday.

In a report on Saturday, the Institute for the Study of War said the tone of Russian mini-bloggers changed after news of the unit’s destruction emerged.

“The Ukrainian destruction of significant elements of a Russian motorized rifle brigade attempting to cross a pontoon bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River on May 11 shocked prominent Russian milbloggers. These bloggers have started commenting on the incompetence of the Russian military to hundreds of thousands of followers,” the report said.

It pointed out that these mini-bloggers had previously “cheered for the Russian military” but now “criticized the leadership of the Russian armed forces for not learning from the war experience.” The report went on to say, “They also expressed concern that the constant prodding of Russian propaganda lines made it difficult for them to understand what was actually going on.”

Meanwhile, the UK Ministry of Defense assessed in a report on Saturday that Russia may have lost “a third” of the ground attack force it originally deployed to fight in Ukraine in February. It seems unlikely that Moscow will be able to quickly recover from the heavy losses.

“Russian forces are increasingly being constrained by degraded capabilities, persistently low morale and reduced combat effectiveness. Many of these capabilities cannot be quickly replaced or restored and will likely continue to hamper Russian operations in Ukraine,” the UK MoD report said.

news week has asked the Russian Foreign Ministry for an opinion.

Despite the apparent setbacks and losses, Moscow continues to insist that it will achieve its goals and not give up.

“We are confident that all the goals that the Commander-in-Chief has set before our armed forces will be fully achieved. We will never give up, we will not back down,” said Anatoly Antonov, the Kremlin’s ambassador to the United States, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported on Saturday.