Russian commanders are reportedly refusing to fight in Ukraine as Putin’s invaders sustain sweeping losses at the hands of the targeted country’s defenders. As reported by The Kyiv Independent this weekend, affected parts of the Russian army include Russia’s 3rd Motorized Division and the 20th Combined Arms Army, and a report from the Ukrainian government information source known as Ukrinform backed up these assertions. “Commanders of various levels of the 3rd motorized rifle division of the 20th all-military army of the western military district refuse to take part in hostilities,” a Ukrinform report utilizing information from the Ukrainian military said. The Ukrinform report seems to be referring to the same portions of the Russian military as The Kyiv Independent — something apparently known as the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army operates under Russia’s Western Military District.
⚡️Ukraine's Armed Forces say several Russian commanders refuse to fight due to low morale.
The Ukrainian military said it was referring to Russia's 3rd Motorized Division and the 20th Combined Arms Army.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 3, 2022
That Ukrinform report also claims that Russian servicemen are “massively filing resignation reports,” and apparently, soldiers in “two battalion-tactical groups of the 4th military base with the 58th all-military army of [Russia’s] southern military district refused to take part in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine,” according to the report. Commanders apparently intended to return these forces to their base. Recently, there was also reporting about Rosgvardia personnel — meaning Russian national guardsmen — refusing to fight in Ukraine. As reported on this site, information on Russian guardsmen resisting demands to participate in the war came through Russian lawyer Mikhail Benyash, who revealed he’d be representing a group of those individuals and was subsequently “inundated” with calls, per the Financial Times. According to Benyash, around “1,000 people had been in touch with his team, as he pursues the first court case to officially reveal dissent inside the ranks of Russia’s security forces over the invasion,” as the Financial Times summarizes.
⚡️ Ukrainians rallied against the Russian occupation in the occupied Kherson on April 3, despite risks.
The Russian forces in the city have been dispersing such rallies and hunting down their organizers.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 3, 2022
Overall, Russia is believed to have already lost thousands and thousands of individual troops in fighting across Ukraine — a senior NATO official recently said Russian troop deaths could already be as high as 15,000, although the range that official provided also reached downward to around 7,000. Still, it’s clear that Russian losses — including numerous dead military commanders — have been substantial, although these losses haven’t led to the Putin regime abandoning the fighting. Recent exits of Russian forces from around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, have been tied by observers to efforts to bulk up offensives elsewhere, with Russians apparently further intensifying their targeting of eastern portions of the country — although strikes are continuing elsewhere and are by no means set to be limited to these areas. The Center for Combating Disinformation at the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council laid out how the “shift of the battlefield does not mean that Russia will stop air strikes with long-range missiles and aircraft throughout the rest of Ukraine.”
⚡️ Chernihiv mayor: 70% of the city ruined by Russian attacks.
Businesses in Chernihiv are not working, and there is no revenue for the local budget, Vladyslav Atroshenko said on April 3, speaking on Ukrainian TV.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 3, 2022
