Vladimir Putin’s military is on the verge of a devastating “mental health crisis” with more than 100,000 personnel likely suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as the Ukraine war takes its toll.
Russia’s forces have been decimated by the much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive over recent weeks, with casualties in the hundreds of thousands leaving them desperately short in the battlefield.
Volodymyr Zelensky’s heroes have battered the opposition by successfully striking critically important targets claiming vital territory they had lost to the enemy earlier in the war.
Now the UK Ministry of Defence has warned the Russian military is facing a “mental health crisis” with psychologists already identifying 100,000 military personnel suffering from PTSD at the end of last year.
That eye-watering number “is almost certainly now higher”, with the Russian military accused of “failing to provide sufficient rotation and recuperation from the battlefield”.
There are also more signs “that doctors in Russia are sending military personnel who are unfit to fight to the front” with appeal claims against medical commissions in the country higher in 2023 than in 2022 – many of which have been denied or abandoned.
The UK MoD said in its latest intelligence update on X: “The Russian military is facing a mental health crisis. In December 2022, Russian psychologists identified approximately 100,000 military personnel suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“This number is almost certainly now higher as the Russian military fails to provide sufficient rotation and recuperation from the battlefield.
“This was a problem highlighted by multiple commanders, including the former 58th Combined Arms Army’s General-Major Ivan Popov who was relieved of command in July 2023.
“There are additional indications that doctors in Russia are sending military personnel who are unfit to fight to the front.
“Appeal claims against Russian military medical commissions are higher in 2023 than they were in 2022, with many cases denied or claims abandoned.
“With a lack of care for its soldiers’ mental health and fitness to fight, Russia’s combat fighting effectiveness continues to operate at sub-optimal levels.”
Last week, a devastating video emerged of a Russian tank exploding into a massive fireball after seemingly running over a landmine in another huge blow to Putin in the Ukraine war.
Footage shared on Reddit shows what appears to be a T-90 tank blown to pieces on the battlefield in the Lyman region of Ukraine.
It shows the battle vehicle, which uses a 125mm 2A46 smoothbore main gun, roaming through thick grass and firing at opposing forces, with one soldier’s head appearing out of the top of it.
Suddenly, the tank explodes in a massive fireball with pieces and shrapnel blown everywhere, suggesting the Russian soldiers may have unknowingly run over a hidden land mine.
The camera pans away showing the destroyed tank engulfed in flames, with thick dark smoke quickly filling the sky.
