this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2024
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[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 44 points 2 months ago (14 children)

Obviously, I do t know anything that's not in the article...

But...

We're looking at drafted soldiers, and officers that were likely career military before...

There's a reason why America stopped doing that even if the kids today don't know where "fraggin" comes from.

In Vietnam, it wasn't just because they hated their Officer, it was also if their last one got killed legitimately and the new guy was obviously going to get you and your buddies killed. In that environment, it doesn't matter if your officer is trying to get you killed or is incompetent.

And especially today with all the media and propaganda, it's hard to say this one was some kind of spy or intentionally causing Russian causalities.

But its just as likely he's an old school "a soldier is a soldier, stop playing video games" type of guy.

To the troops that can look like intentional sabotage. When troops start thinking their officers will get them killed...

I can't think of a nation off the top of my head that won a war like that.

The closest would be when the Nazis invaded Russia and any Russians that ran got shot by the Russians behind them.

But that wasn't their officers. That was the officers and troops behind them that would be doing the same thing in days or even hours.

If Russian troops start thinking the best way to stay alive is kill their officers, we're gonna start seeing a lot of dead officers, especially with Russia's reliance on criminals and mercenaries these days.

[–] Hubi 30 points 2 months ago (3 children)

If Russian troops start thinking the best way to stay alive is kill their officers, we’re gonna start seeing a lot of dead officers, especially with Russia’s reliance on criminals and mercenaries these days.

I wouldn't get my hopes up. These guys knew that they were being sent to their deaths and they still obeyed the order. The Russian mindset is hard to comprehend.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

They'd rather go and likely die than live in Russian gulags...

But they'd rather fuck off and be free than either.

It hasn't even been a year since Russian troops marched to Moscow bruh.

They're not as solid as you think. It took a leader to get them to march on Moscow, all it takes for them to fuck off is seeing others do it. And if officers stop them, well, there's lots of people in the Russian army that won't hesitate to kill someone for their own gain.

That was Wagner, which at the time was technically separate from Russia's regular military. (Think of it as being akin to a private military company.) And they were lead by the head of Wagner. I think the equivalent in the Russian military would be Putin himself - so I'm not sure if we can expect the same sort of thing nowadays, as a military leader below Putin wouldn't be expected to command the same level of loyalty over Putin's army that the head of Wagner did over the Wagner troops.

[–] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

True. These guys know exactly what's going on but there seems to be little to no resistance. Really strange.

The guy seems like a career specialist based on the article. Lots of regular conscripts have tried to surrender or run away but this guy fought in Russian proxy wars long before the Ukraine conflict. So he's not the type to disobey an order like this.

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