The russian command of the 20th combined arms army has sent assault groups of wounded soldiers using crutches into battle, Forbes reported on Wednesday, January 22.
Some russian commanders are ordering the return of wounded soldiers to the battlefield, and “crutch battalions” are even being formed, the publication reports. Last week, such assault groups were spotted near Pokrovsk in the Donetsk Region. Ukrainian drones spotted a group of occupiers using crutches. The use of even seriously wounded soldiers means that the Kremlin is depleting its human resources faster than it is replenishing them, Forbes notes.
"What may have initially seemed like an anomaly - a strange loss of lives, potentially ordered by one brutal russian commander - now appears more systemic. On Tuesday or shortly before, a russian soldier from the 20th Army recorded a video of wounded soldiers marching out to carry out a combat mission in the woods, apparently near Pokrovsk," the report says.
The video shows wounded soldiers on crutches gathering for an assault. The cameraman says one of the occupiers had an epileptic seizure.
Caution, video contains foul language
Elite Russian soldiers of the 20th Army, some on crutches, are heading out to carry out a combat mission. One of the special forces operatives even suffered an epileptic seizure.
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) 21 января 2025 г., 11:23
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As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the russian occupiers advanced in the areas of four settlements in the Donetsk Region. At the same time, the Ukrainian Defense Forces were able to dislodge the enemy from a number of positions in the Pokrovsk Axis.
At the same time, the hole in the russian budget exceeded RUB 3 trillion for the third year in a row.
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