The Russian military has been open in its use of mercenaries in the Ukraine war, these are not your usual highly paid former military mercenaries though. These are Russian prisoners who are hard core criminals who have been recruited directly from prison, they do not possess high level military skills and strategy knowledge.

This is an ISIS style video released by Russian military bloggers, this however is not an isolated case, there has been documented cases in Bucha and other occupied territories. These human rights abuses by Russia are highly concerning. This is Europe in 2022 and 2023, the Ukrainian people know they do not want to live under Russian occupation. Prigozhin has openly stated PMC Wagner troops have been ordered to not take prisoners, this is against all rules of war. Russia had further territory desires, this is seeming less likely now, now one wants to live under Russian occupation as they did under the Soviet regime.

I watched the video in order to research this post, it is harrowing and I will not be providing any links to the video. It is really shocking, so this is what Prigozhin’s Wagner troops are, they are just criminals, they are animals. So I have to ask, does this strike fear into Ukrainian soldiers? I can’t answer for them, but I would think they would not want to be captured. We already know Ukrainian troops are highly motivated, we know they are brave and they have proved they are resourceful.

These are troops with no ethics, no discipline and no bravery. They are ordered to advance, they are not supported by combined arms. Instead, they have units with orders to kill their own forces who retreat. These videos have been widely shared by Russian military bloggers, there is a degree of acceptance in Russian society. This is a reflection of Russian society, Russians are not disgusted by the actions of their soldiers in Ukraine. Instead they support these human rights abuses and justify these abuses. This is the Russian mentality, this is Russian values and this is what Russia is. This is why Russia must be defeated, we hopefully are looking at another Russian collapse and the possible break up of the Russian federation – I hope so.