Sick soldiers become cannon fodder: losses force Russia to take drastic steps. Russian soldier from the 5th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade is said to have said in a wiretapped phone call about the conditions in the Ukraine war.
“They threw [the soldiers] in like meat, like cannon fodder,” said the soldier on the phone. Those who survived the front were later released into the reserves without financial support. Russia has been using all possible means to counteract the shortage of personnel for the war of aggression.