Russian army suffering from highest estimated number of casualties due to this unusual reason

The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has found that Russia's high number of casualties in Ukraine is linked to 'pervasive alcohol abuse', among other issues.

Drunkenness is 'detrimental to combat effectiveness'

According to the MoD, an 'extremely high' number of Russia’s 200,000 casualties in Ukraine are due to drunkenness, fights, and vehicle crashes. It said:

Other leading causes of non-combat casualties likely include poor weapon handling drills, road traffic accidents and climatic injuries such as hypothermia. Russian commanders likely identify pervasive alcohol abuse as particularly detrimental to combat effectiveness

However, with heavy drinking pervasive across much of Russian society, it has long been seen as a tacitly accepted part of military life, even on combat operations.

According to military analysts cited by The Telegraph, the Russian army frequently recruits from the poorest sections of society where problems with alcohol and violence are common. Combined with Russia’s heavy drinking culture among men, this has at times been associated with violence on the battlefield.

The estimated number of casualties is one of the highest yet for Russia's war in Ukraine and is significant when one considers that 20,000 soldiers were killed in the Soviet Union’s 10-year war in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

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Not the first time

In April 2022,Forbes contributor Melik Kaylan made similar observations. According to Kaylan, the Russian soldiers he has encountered throughout his career were 'always drunk'. And the soldiers who were training to fight in a small village called Mulino at the timeseemed to bear a resemblance.

Local residents complained about the volunteer battalions in the 3rd Army Corps who were 'walking around drunk from 11am' and harassing them. Mulino resident Ksenia Glotova said on social media that 'the whole village is suffering'. Another resident, Yekaterina Horoshavina, said:

They say they're going to defend us, but based on what we've seen we won't be sleeping very calmly.

Like The Telegraph, Kaylan wrote:

No doubt for ill-trained young conscripts from remote impoverished regions suddenly confronted with fear and loathing, hostile natives and sadistic superiors, that are forced to choose between committing atrocities and being shot for refusing orders, vodka must be a sine qua non.

However, unlike The Telegraph, Kaylan believed that Russian military leaders may be encouraging the behaviour:

No doubt, the higher-ups know and indeed encourage the phenomenon. How else could they get the men to do their reptilian bidding? The ensuing war crimes should come as no surprise.

Indeed, the Russian soldiers in Ukraine have been accused of using rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war. Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for committing war crimes.

Sources used:

The Telegraph: 'Alcohol abuse, violence and weapon incompetence killing Russian soldiers, says MoD'

Forbes: 'Hidden Truths Of The Ukraine War: Drunk Russian Soldiers, Germany’s Real Problem, Sabotage Inside Russia'