Russia Hunts Down Deserters to Backfill Its Massive War Losses – WSJ

Last fall, an army recruit from rural Russia named Anatoly Shchetinin was told he would soon be sent to the front lines in Ukraine. Shchetinin didn t like the sound of that and devised a different plan. He fled his base in southern Russia for Armenia, thinking he would be safe there.

Russian authorities weren t done with him, however. Police threatened his family and called his sister Anna in for questioning. Whatever happens, we ll find him, they told her.

They made good on their promise. Today, the 26-year-old is back in Russia after being detained by Russian military officials in Armenia, preparing to either stand trial for desertion or be sent to fight in the war an example of the lengths Russia is going to in order to meet its voracious need for manpower in Ukraine.

Russia s vast professional army has been hollowed out after 2½ years sending waves of men to break down Ukraine s defenses with a warfare attrition strategy. Infantry are thrown into risky assaults with little apparent care for their survival, and advances are often counted in yards instead of miles.

via www.wsj.com

Spare a tear for the poor Russians being sent into the meat grinders in Ukraine when all they want to do is stay home and get drunk. A relatively innocent occupation.