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By Kaitlin Lewis
Night Reporter
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Russian troops are reportedly turning to alcohol abuse and "self-mutilation" as means to escape the front lines as the Kremlin's military continues to grapple with plummeting morale among soldiers, according to a report Thursday from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank.
Hanna Malyar, Ukraine's deputy minister of defense, said in a briefing Thursday that Russian soldiers are showing signs of increased panic after receiving insufficient training for battle in the Russia-Ukraine war, reported ISW.
Malyar said troops have "a significant decrease in the level of morale and psychological state" as a result of Ukraine's recent successful counteroffenses, adding that Ukraine's ministry has observed "mass abuse of alcoholic beverages" leading to "cases of armed conflicts" within the Russian military and moments of "destabilization," according to the think tank.
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"In addition, we know of cases of deliberate self-mutilation by representatives of the Russian military and cases of suicide," Malyar said. "This is due to the fact that the morale and psychological level is lowered as much as possible," reported ISW.
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The ISW study also indicated that low morale was a growing issue for Russian authorities, adding that some sources have reported Russian troops refusing to continue fighting until they receive sufficient training. The ISW also reported that mobilized Russian personnel were being held in jail cells across the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts for dissenting from military orders.
Ukraine has had a recent string of successful counteroffensives against Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops, leading to accounts of nearly 10,000 Russian soldiers being killed over a period of two weeks.
The ISW also reported that Ukraine was continuing to liberate Russian-occupied territory in the eastern part of the country, adding that Russian troops are likely "vulnerable" in facing another battle in eastern Kherson Oblast in the coming days.
"The limited number of high-quality roads and railways in this area, particularly connecting Crimea to the mainland, creates potential bottlenecks that could be vulnerable to Ukrainian interdiction efforts that would gradually degrade the Russian ability to continue supplying its grouping in eastern Kherson Oblast and other areas of southern Ukraine," the ISW wrote.
Russia unleashed another "mass wave" of missile strikes targeting Ukrainian infrastructure throughout the day Thursday. The Kremlin has recently been attacking Ukraine's energy sources ahead of the winter months, triggering widespread blackouts across the country.
Newsweek has reached out to Russia's defense ministry for comment.
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