The supply chain has grown so precarious for both sides near the strategic town of Bakhmut, Ukraine, that men are going into combat armed with little more than shovels.
Russian officers hoping to retain the strategic initiative and eke out some kind of victory here are ordering reservists out of the World War I-style trenches to assault Ukrainian positions with entrenching tools and sidearms.
Task & Purpose explains:
The shovels employed in hand-to-hand combat, per the UK Defense Ministry, are likely MPL-50 entrenching tools that have been in Russia’s arsenal for more than 150 years.
The continued use of e-tools by Russian infantry “highlights the brutal and low-tech fighting which has come to characterize much of” the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the UK Ministry of Defense. “One of the reservists described being ‘neither physically nor psychologically’ prepared for the action.”
“Recent evidence suggests an increase in close combat in Ukraine,” the Defense Ministry update concludes. “This is probably a result of the Russian command continuing to insist on offensive action largely consisting of dismounted infantry, with less support from artillery fire because Russia is short of munitions.”
With the Russian military a veritable dumpster fire of a fighting force, it’s no surprise that dismounted soldiers have been stuck with little more than e-tools. Equipment and ammo shortages have become a defining feature of the Russian invasion of Ukraine since early in the conflict when footage of Russian soldiers looting grocery stores in search of food became a symbol of their military’s logistical shortcomings.
As of March 9, Western officials estimate that between 20,000-30,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the vicinity of Bakhmut.
The New York Times reports that Ukraine endures hundreds of casualties every day on the Bakhmut front.
The inconsistency of adequate medical care on the Russian side has significantly contributed to Moscow’s fatalities, from ill-trained reservists to members of Putin’s Wagner Group, its elite paramilitary force.
READ NEXT: Mexican President Vows To Launch US Election Interference Campaign Targeting Republicans
So sad that in a world of great technological advancements, reaching further everyday into unfolding the secrets of the universe we still have to suffer such loss of life because of one man’s maniacal need to impose his will on another country!