The United States has information that the Russian military is executing soldiers who do not follow orders related to the war with Ukraine, the White House said on Thursday.
Put up Barrier troops, kill those that desert or retreat. Russia really hasn’t changed much. Just throw everyone at the enemy, poorly equip them, and kill or jail the ones that try to escape.
The pop culture myth of Soviets killing anyone who retreated is potentially based on a few real incidents of it, but the barrier troops were formally there to detain/arrest and most of them were sent back to active duty. It wouldn’t necessarily have been for “retreating” either but for abandoning your unit, a unit could very well engage in a “retreat.” There’s also conflation between motivating propaganda saying things like “no retreat!” and supposed “no retreat laws.” None of this is really unique to the Soviets or Russia either.
WWII all over again.
Put up Barrier troops, kill those that desert or retreat. Russia really hasn’t changed much. Just throw everyone at the enemy, poorly equip them, and kill or jail the ones that try to escape.
The pop culture myth of Soviets killing anyone who retreated is potentially based on a few real incidents of it, but the barrier troops were formally there to detain/arrest and most of them were sent back to active duty. It wouldn’t necessarily have been for “retreating” either but for abandoning your unit, a unit could very well engage in a “retreat.” There’s also conflation between motivating propaganda saying things like “no retreat!” and supposed “no retreat laws.” None of this is really unique to the Soviets or Russia either.