The Russian military’s morale is “exceedingly low” following “significant losses” in Ukraine’s Donbas region, according to a new report from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). The think tank’s assessment of the Russian offensive indicated that troop desertion, inadequate preparation for battle and casualties had all contributed to poor mental health among Russian soldiers in Donetsk and Luhansk, both areas that Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed to have annexed in late September. A Russian official admitted that Putin‘s military is “playing catch up” against Ukraine during a recent appearance on Russian state TV.
Capitalizing on some of the Russian soldiers’ reluctance to continue to fight, Ukraine has deployed tens of thousands of drones across Ukraine in a program meant to guide Russian soldiers who want to surrender.
The program had its genesis in late November, when the Ukrainian military released footage of a Russian soldier throwing his weapon to the ground, raising his hands and nervously following a path set out by a drone overhead, leading him to soldiers from the Ukrainian army’s 54th Mechanized Brigade.
A few weeks later, the Ukrainian General Staff released an instructional video explaining how Russian soldiers can surrender to a Ukrainian drone, and it is now part of a wide-ranging effort by Ukraine to persuade Russian soldiers to give up. The program, called “I want to live,” includes a phone hotline, a website and a Telegram channel all dedicated to communicating to Russian soldiers and their families.
It’s too early to know whether the drone effort will lure Russian deserters in any meaningful numbers. But it adds another avenue for Ukraine to recruit Russian deserters, this one with a distinctly modern twist to the age-old tactic of informational warfare. And if nothing else, it may further the erosion of Russian morale on the battlefield.
