Proekt, a Russian-language independent media outlet, has proven the identities of 166 Russian servicemen who commanded the Ukrainian invasion.
Russia amassed no less than 20% of its manpower along the Ukraine border shortly before the invasion. The Russian army has approximately 900,000 servicemen in total.
All Russian units capable of going on an offensive are in this war, including the 12 field armies, the entire offensive airborne power, the entire intelligence, marines from Russia’s four fleets, all mobile artillery, as well as bomber, assault and fighter aircraft.
The 15th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade from the Samara region is also fighting in Ukraine. It is Russia’s only UN-qualified peacemaking unit, Proekt says.
Only 39 identified commanders (23%) had real-life combat experience before invading Ukraine.
An average monthly income for a field army commander was about 270,000 rubles (€4,400) in 2019, a general staff officer earns around 300,000. Commanders of military districts and separate branches of the military earn as much as 900,000 a month. Meanwhile, a regular soldier within the Russian army has a monthly salary of 50,000 (€800) or less.
32.5% of the high-ranking officers have debts, including alimony and utility bills. Five individuals were penalised under administrative law before. 20% of the sample have traffic tickets, most of them fail to pay on time.
According to an earlier investigation by IStories, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin relied upon the information provided by incompetent FSB officers when he planned his invasion into Ukraine. Most of his knowledge about what is going on in his country and abroad comes from the so-called “fifth department” at the FSB, the country’s Security Service and the KGB’s successor. The fifth department is led by Sergey Beseda and is responsible for collecting information in Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union.
The employees of the department are known for “selling air” instead of providing reliable data and are generally incompetent.