Why is Russia providing fake equipment to its soldiers?

Reports are circulating that Russia is contemplating another mobilization in the spring, which will almost certainly rely primarily on recruitment as Vladimir Putin pursues his goal of conquering Ukraine. Therefore, after only a few weeks of preparation, middle-class Russian residents of fighting age may find themselves on the battlefield. At the very least, they'll be armed, right? Uncover this bizarre narrative to see why Putin is providing his army with bogus equipment. 🤬🤬🆚😩😩

According to rumors, Russia is preparing for another mobilization in the spring that will probably heavily rely on conscription as Vladimir Putin pursues his goal of annexing Ukraine. Therefore, with only a few weeks of training, middle-class Russian citizens of fighting age could find themselves on the battlefield. At least they'll be equipped with the most advanced technology, right? Think again. Most commentators were horrified when the war started, but they believed Kyiv would fall within a few days or weeks. After all, Russia was a Great Power with the largest nuclear arsenal in the world and had been removing parts of Ukraine like Crimea for years with little resistance. Furthermore, Ukraine didn't yet belong to NATO or the EU and had an unproven military.

However, as the early stages of the conflict wore on, Ukrainian defenders put up such a valiant fight that NATO began to view supporting their defense as both a moral obligation and a wise use of its resources. At this point, the conflict has entrenched itself into a protracted conflict between Russia and a Ukraine supported by NATO, which has limited Russia to only the eastern region of Ukraine that it initially overran. Thus, Russia is now in a difficult situation. The world would be helpless to stop Russia's military plans, which were designed for an immediate, brutal war and a protracted occupation. Instead, they experienced the full force of international criticism; not only did the world invest heavily in Ukraine, but the majority of superpowers outside of China, North Korea, and Iran also imposed sanctions on Russia, cutting it off from a significant portion of the global economy.

As a result, Russia felt alone as its cold-war stockpile of weapons and supplies started to deplete, with few options for replacing them. Moreover, word quickly got out that things were getting worse. There have been rumors since May that the Russian standard body armor is inadequate. Conversations between a Russian soldier and his mother, in which the soldier requested financial assistance so that he could purchase better armor, were leaked by the Ukrainian Security Service. While Russia had given its soldiers armor during this phase of the conflict, the majority of its equipment dates back to the Cold War, and there's a good chance that its quality has declined over time. Since the start of the conflict, Russia has kept quiet about the number of casualties it has sustained and has refuted reports that it is running low on supplies, claiming that the conversations that have been leaked are Ukrainian propaganda.

But the proof is mounting. Photos of Russian soldiers who had died in battle began to circulate as the war dragged on, and few, if any, appeared to be donning heavy body armor. Military experts had predicted that Russia would begin to run low on essential supplies as early as March, but this didn't stop Putin from continuing the conflict. The first mobilization began in October, and it involved the conscription of large numbers of soldiers, many of whom were from ethnic minority enclaves and felt that they were being unfairly singled out for service. It didn't take long for the initiative to be seen as a failure, with people protesting conscription while their family and friends were being deployed to the front line without adequate training.

And the supply issues became immediately apparent. As phone calls from mobilized soldiers revealed they were receiving civilian clothing, rusted guns, and few supplies like first-aid kits, the trickle of complaints about poor armor and other supplies quickly turned into a flood. Many had no choice but to resort to making their own armor and equipment, looting it from Ukrainian villages, or stealing it—sometimes from their fellow soldiers. The conscripts were often forced to perform the majority of their own repairs on their guns and uniforms because the equipment they did have been frequently in poor condition. Due to the fact that many soldiers were instructed to bring their own equipment before reporting for duty, even the recruitment offices were aware of the issue.

And quality equipment wasn't cheap. The gear a draftee would need to enter combat was reported to have cost many families a month's salary, despite the fact that most families were aware there was a good chance both the man wearing the gear and he would never return. In a military equivalent of the great toilet paper wars of 2020, supply and equipment shortages occurred as more and more men were called up for duty. And as it turned out, some people abused the situation; price gouging was reported. Other equipment, such as sleeping bags and winter boots, quickly ran out of stock, while the cost of some essential items, such as bulletproof vests, increased exponentially. But in some circumstances, getting nothing might be preferable to getting something.

One video that went viral showed a soldier flaunting his brand-new vest before revealing that it was an airsoft gun vest made for paintball games, despite the fact that many Russian soldiers claim to be receiving body armor. He used colorful language to describe how it would instantly shred if exposed to real heavy fire. Putin may be robbing the neighborhood arcade to make up for the supply shortage since he was also reportedly given Airsoft gun scopes. However, in some circumstances, the soldiers' armor might actually be dangerous to them. Since 2017, Russia has been hoarding the top-of-the-line body armor, known as the Ratnik-2. In fact, Russia asserted that it would have enough supplies to support the entire army by 2020.

This contemporary body armor has ceramic plate inserts that can shield vital organs from high-velocity bullets as well as shrapnel and low-velocity bullets. This would make it much more difficult for Ukrainian snipers to do their jobs if Russian soldiers were sporting it. So what's protecting the average Russian soldier? Most soldiers are currently being seen wearing older 6B23 body armor that was replaced by the Ratnik model, and it has one big problem: it's not very good at protecting its user. It frequently results in blunt-force trauma, which can lead to painful bruises and even broken ribs when soldiers are hit by bullets while wearing it. Which somewhat defeats the purpose of body armor. The armor of yet more soldiers is being examined, and as they do so, they discover bullet holes that indicate it has been used before and wasn't exactly effective.

Because Russia is notoriously corrupt and because many military leaders appear to only be interested in their own interests, many people wonder where the revolutionary Russian body armor is. Military officials were found guilty of selling supplies online in numerous scandals prior to the start of the war, and the black market only became more active once the fighting began. Maybe a few soldiers did receive the armor they required, but only because they or their families were prepared to pay for it. And combining the stolen body armor with the ones that were destroyed in the early days of the war, Russia found itself unable to supply its troops with adequate body armor. And as a result, a complex deception game was played.

Why does Putin care to make soldiers appear to be wearing body armor, even going so far as to give them airsoft-specific fake armor? Part of the reason is his international reputation, which he doesn't have much of to begin with but would rather be feared than liked. Governments in NATO and elsewhere have refrained from exerting undue pressure on Russia despite the isolation that resulted from international sanctions. This includes refraining from supplying Ukraine with any offensive long-range weapons capable of hitting Russia. The more frightened governments will be to defy Russia's government, the weaker Russia appears to be, and the more rudimentary its army appears to be. But when trying to win over your few allies, appearances are important as well.

Putin's supplier options are constrained. Many of the small nations he is supporting, such as Belarus, Syria, and Venezuela, all of which are dictatorships, don't have a lot to offer in the way of resources. China, while by far the most resource-rich country in Putin's corner, has been inching away from full support of the war in recent months and will only become more hesitant if it looks like Russia is losing. And while Iran and North Korea are very eager to help Russia against the US-backed forces in Ukraine, they're not going to throw money into what they think is a losing fight. So Russia is determined to present itself as a strong nation, but a bigger problem might come from within. Currently, the winter months mean both Russia and Ukraine's armies have been frozen in place, fighting over small swaths of land in eastern Ukraine.

Most of these areas were taken by Russia in the first days of the war, but many were reclaimed by Ukraine during their stunning autumn offensive in 2022. Now, small towns like Soledar have become fierce battlegrounds, but Putin is far from willing to settle for what he has. Rumors are that he's planning a massive mobilization for spring in the hopes of making one last push to take Kyiv.

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