For many observers, the war in Ukraine is motivated by the Russian authorities’ desire to push the boundaries of democracy so that Kremlin leaders can continue to profit from corruption. But these misappropriations of public funds that allow President Putin and his relatives to live like tsars have serious consequences for their own army. Here are some examples.
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FEEDED ON EXPIRED AND CONTAMINATED FOODS
Photo d’archives
A Russian ration box and its expiration date.
The Politico site reported that from the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, several accounts stated that the Russian army had been using food rations that had expired since… 2015.
Politico recalled that most of the Russian army’s food suppliers are linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, which notably earned the latter the nickname of chef (cook) of President Putin.
Prigozhin is believed to be linked to the St Petersburg troll factory responsible for disinformation campaigns aimed at the West and is suspected of interfering in the 2016 US elections.
He would also be the financier of the paramilitary group Wagner, mercenaries renowned for their cruelty who had had the mandate to assassinate the Ukrainian president from the start of the invasion.
Politico adds that “the quality of food and housing in the Russian military is said to be worse than in prisons, with unreasonably small meals and some carriers of harmful Escherichia coli bacteria.”
A DEFENSELESS DEFENDER
Photo d’archives
The cruiser Moskva, shortly before sinking.
On April 14, the Ukrainian army succeeded in what seemed impossible; sink the cruiser Moskva, the most powerful Russian ship in the Black Sea.
To achieve this, the Ukrainians used a Bayraktar drone to locate the Russian spearhead, attract its attention and then attack it with two Neptune missiles. When the news was confirmed, observers wondered how it was that the Moskva’s anti-missile radars failed to counter the attack.
“The anti-missile radar systems which should have been updated were not because the funds were misappropriated,” explains Yann Breault, assistant professor at the Royal Military College of Saint-Jean and a specialist in Russian foreign policy.
AN INACTIVE REACTIVE SHIELD
Photo d’archives, AFP
A Ukrainian T-72 tank on April 24 in the east of the country. This armored vehicle, on which we notice the reactive armor bricks, is of Russian manufacture.
Reactive armor is an important element of protection for tanks equipped with it. It consists of bricks or tiles containing an explosive that cover the tank.
If it is attacked, the tile that will be hit will explode, which normally will cancel the effect of the enemy rocket… if the explosive is in place.
“Russians sold the explosives inside the bricks. The tanks arrive on the ground and they are supposed to have protection, and finally the protection does not work”, says Yann Breault.
AN OLD TRADITION
Photo d’archives, AFP
A Soviet-made T-55 tank in the hands of mujahideen soldiers in Iran in 2003.
According to Michel Roche, professor of political science at UQAC and specialist in Russia, corruption in this part of the globe began around 1960 under the Soviet era, and grew in the 1980s until the explosion of the Eastern bloc.
Corruption, “it handicaps the (Russian) economy, the army, it rots absolutely everything. When the Soviet regime was collapsing, army officers, generals were selling tanks. They were worth regarding a million dollars and they were selling them for $50,000 to countries like Iran for their own account.”
“Corruption contributed to weakening what was left of the army,” Roche said.
A DRY OIL PRODUCER
According to economists, 30% of Russia’s GDP is linked to its oil production.
However, the world’s third largest producer is struggling to supply its army with fuel.
The Politico site recalled a news from the Russian agency Tass according to which three Russian soldiers had been sentenced in 2019 to terms of one and a half to 5 and a half years in prison for the theft of 126 tons of oil (regarding 150 000 litres, i.e. a full tank of 50 liters per week for 58 years).
Politico also reports a 2017 Russian study that the military gets 2 million tonnes of supplies annually “but has no data on how this colossal sum is spent.”
