How Russia Is Using Disabled Soldiers For Frontline Assaults

A abnormal Russian worker connected the frontline.

SOCIAL MEDIA CAPTURE

Russia’s ongoing penetration of Ukraine has produced immense numbers of casualties complete 4 and a half years of fighting. The Center for Strategic and International Studies, successful a July report, estimated Russian casualties astatine 1.4 million. Over a 24-hour play connected August 11, Ukraine’s General Staff claimed Russia suffered 1,190 casualties. The losses are staggering, and analysts opportunity the Kremlin has faced difficulties recruiting capable soldiers to prolong its violative successful Ukraine.

Pro-war Russian bloggers person said that commanders person fed Vladimir Putin overly optimistic assessments of battlefield progress, reinforcing the Kremlin’s belief that greater manpower tin yet break Ukrainian lines. The consequence is simply a strategy that prioritizes having capable manpower to provender into Ukraine’s “drone wall” and proceed making incremental gains.

“A group of wounded aliases abnormal soldiers is sent forward, they are destroyed, and Russian forces observe wherever Ukrainian drones motorboat from and wherever Ukrainian firing points are located,” Mykola Melnyk, a erstwhile serviceman from the 47th Mechanized Brigade, told me. “They past effort to suppress those positions earlier sending successful much tin infantry.”

Reports person documented abnormal soldiers being sent backmost into battle. Melnyk said these soldiers tin beryllium utilized arsenic decoys aliases bait, distracting Ukrainian drone operators while much tin soldiers transverse done a field. If they are struck, he said, Russian forces tin usage the onslaught to place Ukrainian positions and perchance find drone operators. According to a study by the New York Times from April 2023, moreover prisoners pinch HIV were offered treatment if they signed connected pinch the Wagner Group and survived the aggravated assaults soldiers were sent on.

“Russian commanders are placed successful a business wherever they are ordered to assault, but do not person capable tin troops to do it,” said Melnyk. “Since they are not held accountable for dense losses, they nonstop guardant the wounded, the disabled, and anyone other they can.”

Wounded Soldiers Sent Back Into Battle

In May 2026, 50-year-old Sergei Aleksandrovich Pisarchik, a worker successful the Russian Army’s 69th Motorized Rifle Division, sent a last video to his relatives, according to the Russian anti-war Telegram transmission Mobilization News. It showed six abnormal Russian soldiers, immoderate connected crutches, being sent into conflict successful Ukraine pinch 3 bulletproof vests and 2 automatic rifles betwixt them.

“The civilization of the Russian service dates backmost to 1941 and it has not changed,” said Melnyk. “There is nary respect for quality life, and subject expediency is placed supra immoderate quality values. That is why the alleged ‘battalion of cripples’ is thing new. This existed during the Second World War, and it continues today.”

Footage has many times emerged of Ukrainian drones encountering abnormal Russian soldiers, immoderate stepping connected crutches aliases pinch sticks. In November 2025, the Russian subject Telegram transmission “Brothers successful Arms,” which publishes accounts submitted by Russian soldiers astatine the front, described what it called the army’s “cripple regiments.”

Soldiers from Russia’s 51st Army told the channel, “The partially recovered are sent to the beforehand lines, they don't rotation backmost the 300s [wounded], and they're sent further. No leave, nary compensation. No vacations. There are nary rotations.” The Telegram transmission called retired a abstracted commandant who aft an inspection of a wounded soldier, said, “Tie a crutch to his limb and fto him spell to the statement of contact."

Russian blogger Anastasia Kashevarova, who has astir 250,000 subscribers connected Telegram and antecedently served arsenic an advisor to State Duma president Vyacheslav Volodin, called attraction to the systemic usage of injured soldiers successful combat missions successful 2024. She wrote, “In my memory, they tried to nonstop a unpaid to the beforehand who had shrapnel that injured the spinal cord and was stuck successful the spine: his legs were paralyzed, his humor unit was going done the roof, and he was told, astir speaking: spell to the beforehand pinch your shrapnel and don’t show off. It was a full saga conscionable to region this shrapnel from the person.”

The Pressure Behind Russia’s Assaults

Part of the unit to usage abnormal soldiers stems from a broader problem wrong the Russian subject pinch commanders fearing reward from their superiors, often exaggerating their gains connected the battlefield, efficaciously taking “territory connected credit.” They whitethorn study advancing farther than they really have, creating unit connected troops to move those claims into reality. Russian forces person many times sent mini groups of soldiers to infiltrate Ukrainian positions and works a flag, providing commanders pinch expected grounds of advancement moreover erstwhile they do not power the ground. The New Voice of Ukraine, citing the Institute for the Study of War, reported successful June that Russia utilized AI to produce videos showing the Russian emblem successful definite areas to falsify tactical success.

The threat of this for the Kremlin was reflected successful precocious 2025, erstwhile Russian commanders reported to Putin that they had captured Kupiansk, according to the Financial Times. Weeks later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared adjacent the city, signaling a video beside the Kupiansk entranceway motion arsenic Ukrainian forces continued to clasp overmuch of the area.

“Russia realizes it’s fighting a agelong attritional warfare and understands that different afloat mobilization would transportation governmental risks astatine home, already pinch discontent spreading,” Shaun Pinner, a erstwhile British worker who fought successful Mariupol successful 2022 earlier being captured, told me. “Recycling wounded personnel, clearing infirmary beds and refilling depleted battle units helps prolong battlefield numbers without openly admitting the standard of the strain.”

The strategy of deploying injured, older aliases poorly equipped soldiers limits Russia’s occurrence connected the battlefield and its expertise to behaviour early operations. “The much a subject relies connected exhausted, injured aliases poorly motivated men to prolong momentum, the harder it becomes to support morale, inaugural and operational value complete time,” added Pinner.

Russia’s increasing usage of abnormal soldiers offers a informing to Europe. In a early conflict pinch NATO, Russia could again trust connected its willingness to sorb tremendous casualties to prolong an attritional fight, perchance testing whether European militaries and governments are prepared to prolong specified a war. “It perfectly reflects a strategy wherever manpower is often treated arsenic expendable successful ways astir Western militaries would find profoundly unacceptable,” said Pinner.