Russia’s armed forces are facing a mental health crisis, with more than 100,000 personnel suffering from PTSD and soldiers unfit to fight being sent to the front lines.
- The Ministry of Defense has reported that at least 100,000 Russian soldiers suffer from PTSD
- The actual number is expected to be much higher
- Russian soldiers are reportedly not allowed to leave the army
Russia’s armed forces are facing a worsening mental health crisis, with at least 100,000 personnel suffering from PTSD 20 months after the invasion of Ukraine.
The UK Ministry of Defense said in its latest intelligence briefing that in December 2022, Russian psychologists discovered a huge hoard of shocked soldiers and added that the number had “almost certainly” increased since then.
Russian military leaders reportedly failed to provide sufficient rest and recovery to their battle-weary soldiers, and did not provide sufficient rotation.
The Ministry of Defense added that there are indications that Russian doctors “sent to the front line military personnel who are not fit to fight.”
It said there were more appeals filed against military medical boards in 2023 than in 2022, with many cases being dismissed or simply abandoned.
At least 100,000 Russian soldiers are said to suffer from PTSD
Britain’s Ministry of Defense says military mismanagement is exacerbating the mental health crisis among Russian soldiers
Russian soldiers have not been allowed to leave the army since September 2022, according to a statement from the research center of the RAND Corporation.
These problems have been highlighted by several senior Russian military officials, including former 58th Army Major General Ivan Popov, who was fired earlier this year for questioning the Kremlin’s leadership of the war.
He also accused the high-ranking leadership of the Kremlin of betraying the Russian soldiers and “beheading” the army.
“With a lack of concern for the mental health and combat capability of its soldiers, Russia’s combat capability continues to operate at suboptimal levels,” the intelligence briefing said.
Earlier this year, the RAND Corporation, a US think tank, reported that no Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine, Europe’s bloodiest conflict in decades, had been allowed to leave since September 2022 after Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization.
No Russian troops will reportedly be withdrawn until the “period of partial mobilization” ends with another decree, and there is no indication yet that Putin will sign it.
For Russians fighting on the front lines of Ukraine, the only way out of military service is to reach the mandatory retirement age, get out of health, imprisonment or death.
The Institute for the Study of War has reported that many Russian soldiers are threatening to desert their positions
This means that for Russians fighting on the front lines of Ukraine, the only way out of military service is to reach the mandatory retirement age, go on medical leave, imprisonment or death.
The RAND Corporation wrote: “Unscheduled deployments and insufficient rest and rotation due to troop shortages mean Russian soldiers are exposed to prolonged combat stress, which heightens feelings of frustration and helplessness.”
The Institute for the Study of War reported that many soldiers are threatening to desert their positions.
The Defense Ministry briefing came days after Putin’s Black Sea Fleet made a major retreat.
Russian warships were evacuated from Sevastopol about 237 miles to Novorossiysk on Russia’s southern coast, in what British Defense Secretary James Hippie called a “functional defeat for the Black Sea Fleet”.
The fleet move is seen as a tangible benefit from Ukraine’s strategy to target Crimea, which Russia invaded in 2014, with missiles and drones.