Video of Russian recruits reveals reality on the frontlines

CNN's Melissa Bell reports on widely circulated social media videos of recruits talking about their poor training and equipment on the front lines. CNN has not been able to independently verify the videos. #CNN #News

60 comments

  1. Deep condolences to all mother, father, children and family who lost their lives in this war. Slava Ukraine🇺🇦🇺🇦

    1. Year 9 of the War in Ukraine, not Year 1 , it’s Year 9.Nobody know about Donboss and Maripaul massacre

  2. They are told they are fighting for the survival of their country, in reality they are dying for one man’s ego.

    1. Yeah, if only Vladdy was a few inches taller, he wouldn’t be overcompensating so hard by trying to make himself into the Russian version of Napoleon.

    2. @Matthew 6810 paycheck , just like a lot of those that have gone to fight for Russia from the provinces . They are so poor that risking their lives for money is a good deal to them . It is an odd situation , when some of the prisoners are interviewed they talk about doing it to feed their children which in a way makes sense but who will feed those kids if they are killed . Very strange thought process

    1. @chicken pot pie NATO has been on Russia’s doorstep since Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania joined , what has happened ?? NOTHING

    2. @O P “jp” is referring to something that is often brought up by trolls . There was an agreement but it was only that NATO troops would not enter east Germany until all of the Soviet troops and equipment had left , NATO kept to that agreement .
      The trolls often cite the agreement without giving all of the details , just like Putin did

    1. this is not tragic, but ironic. Most of those ppl didn’t care when the war has started. Some of them even supported it. Now they are paying with their lifes for it. It’s more poetic than tragic. russians all deserve this outcome

    1. ​@Dagmar Bubolz Both yes and no. The tzar wanted reforms. But we all know that people tied to any form and shape of millitaery in Russia, always have a strong hand in Russia. Perhaps he would have had succes, but eventually some kind of army-dude with thirst for power, would take him down. He was too kind, too obliviant to see the dangers and that made him fall in the end. Not saying he was a saint, but he were just too good for those Russians that seek power like a crazy dog.

  3. As I repeatedly say, NATO has not moved east, it is the East that has moved west.

    Questions for the Russian people and for all those who support Putin/Russia. (People from the Middle East and Africa).

    If Russia is a “good guy” and the West are bad guys (according to them), then why do the Eastern countries (former states/countries of the Soviet Union) want to be part of NATO?

    1. I’m Polish living in Poland, i’ve been to both Russia and Ukraine several times, have friends in both countries, and i couldn’t agree more. Very well said, its not a coincidence that everybody in eastern Europe fears and hates Russia.

    2. @B N His reply was no more transparent than what you wrote. But go on, sarcastically call him Sherlock like your insight was any deeper.

  4. As Reznov has said “The old, the young, and the weak.” This is what’s literally happening in Russia taking these people to the war.

  5. I am consistently impressed with the Ukrainian people! They take a hard rap for certain stereotypes in the past. Here in Alberta, Canada, we have A long standing community of Ukrainian immigrants that have enriched and assisted our Northern region in Alberta to an extent that it is the most mineral enriched and fertile areas of Northern Alberta. (Vegreville, AB)

    1. @David Ramsay Ukrainians of the time knew how to farm on rough terrain, making them ideal for developing the Prairie provinces.

    2. Im also a Canadian from Vancouver BC. im supporting 6 refugees my fiancee and her family. She is with me in Turkey as her family suffers in Nikopol and Dnipro. I see her pain and worry daily and its hard to watch. This Genocide must stop all for the Ego of 1 Tiny Pschopath. Slava Ukraine!!!

    3. @Mr. Horrorchild I was watching the Russian propaganda TV channel, which was explaining how Russia retreated from Kharkiv, then all the way to Lugansk, then retreated again from Lyman.

    4. Yes there are a lot of Ukies in Canada. They are the salt of the Earth, hardworking and giving. I married a woman from Kharkiv and she is the best. Her family is amazing. I love them so much. We took her 85 yr old mom in from Kharkiv in March. Still some family in Ukraine and some escaped to Europe. It’s very trying. Beautiful Kharkiv is being shelled constantly. Slava Ukrainiy!

  6. I want to find the video 4 months back where a Russian woman kept complaining that she can’t find tampons in the stores due to sanctions

  7. How absolutely tragic all this is. All because of that maniac 💔
    Condolences to all who are suffering. 🗽🇺🇦🗽

  8. “let’s speak frankly; if we don’t die in battle, we’re gonna spend the rest of our lives in prison for our treason.”

  9. So very sad to see these Russian men, young boys sent to there inevitable death. In the old wars, they’d be considered “cannon fodder.” To bad putnn couldn’t be sent to join them on the side of the road. It’s absolutely sic what has, and still is happening due to this one man’s monumental ego. God help all of them, no matter what side their on. 🙏🙏🙏

  10. This is insane. It takes training to make a soldier and even trained soldiers need support, which they do not? What a mess.

    1. What is more insane than what happened to 13 highly trained US marines in Afghanistan eh ? Can anything beat that !

    2. Ukraine didn’t train its civilians army neither – forcing all
      Men from 18-58 yrs old to go onto the battlefield

  11. Feel horrible for all those recruits they were forced into it and for all the citizens that have to deal with this,

  12. I have an ex-stepson who did the year military service in Russian airborne a couple years ago. No idea about his training, but he was paid something like $30/month, and much of that was siphoned off for his unit’s shared or “community” costs (not sure what that was). So, I sent him some money every month. He spent it on going to the surrounding town when on leave and eating fresh fruit. To him, a real orange was such a treat that he’d spend the extra money I sent him to eat it.

    1. After 19 years since the beginning of the invasion of Iraq, has the West forgotten this war?
      The Iraq war is said to have resulted in 1 million deaths the difference is russia have weapons of mass destruction
      A message to the future generations never make russia feel threatened
      the difference between “looking dangerous” and “being dangerous”.Russia
      describes military doctrine as defensive military doctrine. With regard
      to nuclear weapons specifically, Russia reserves the right to use
      nuclear weapons: in response to the use of nuclear and other types of
      weapons of mass destruction against it or its allies,in case of
      aggression against Russia with the use of conventional weapons when the
      very existence of the state is threatened
      Russia has the World’s Largest Bomber
      As of 2022, the Federation of American Scientists estimates that Russia possesses 5,977 nuclear weapons, while the United States has 5,428; Russia and the U.S. each have about 1,600 active deployed strategic nuclear warheads.

      Russia has the most nuclear weapons of any country, at 6,257. Of these, 1,458 are active, meaning they are already deployed, 3,039 are available (can be deployed if needed) and 1,760 are retired (out of use and awaiting dismantlement

      How do Russian nuclear weapons compare to the rest of the world?
      Russia – 6,257
      America 5,550
      UK – 225
      France – 290
      China – 350
      Israel – 90
      Pakistan – 165
      India – 156
      North Korea – 40

      When you tell the truth it’s always gonna be controversial.

      USA bombing list : the democracy world tour
      usa nuked japan

      -Korea and China 1950-1953
      (Korean War)
      -Guatemala 1954
      -Indonesia 1958
      -Cuba 1959-1961
      -Guatemala 1960
      -Congo 1964
      -Laos 1964-1973
      -Vietnam 1961-1973
      -Cambodia 1969-1970
      -Guatemala 1967-1969
      -Grenada 1983
      -Lebanon 1983-1984
      (both lebanese and syrian targets)
      -Libya 1986
      -Elsavador 1980s
      -Nicaragua 1980s
      -Iran 1987
      -Panama 1989
      -Iraq 1991 (persian gulf war)
      -Kuwait 1991
      -Somalia 1993
      -Bosnia 1994-1995
      -Sudan 1998
      -Afghanistan 1998
      -Yugoslavia 1999
      -Yemen 2002
      -Iraq 1991-2003
      (US/UK on reguler basis)
      -Iraq 2003-2015
      -Afghanistan 2001-2015
      -Pakistan 2007-2015
      -Somalia 2007-8 and 2011
      -Yemen 2009 and 2011
      -Libya 2011 and 2015
      -Syiria 2014-2015

      Never forget who’s the real threat to the world !!

      Who have killed more people in last two decades ?
      America or Russia

      how many people have been killed and wounded in Iraq since the 2003 United States invasion. However, we know that between 184,382 and 207,156 civilians have died from direct war related violence caused by the U.S., its allies, the Iraqi military and police, and opposition forces from the time of the invasion through October 2019. The violent deaths of Iraqi civilians have occurred through aerial bombing, shelling, gunshots, suicide attacks, and fires started by bombing. Many civilians have also been injured.

      Because not all war-related deaths have been recorded accurately by the Iraqi government and the U.S.-led coalition, the numbers are likely much higher. Several estimates based on randomly selected household surveys place the total death count among Iraqis in the hundreds of thousands.

      Several times as many Iraqi civilians may have died as an indirect result of the war, due to damage to the systems that provide food, health care and clean drinking water, and as a result, illness, infectious diseases, and malnutrition that could otherwise have been avoided or treated. The war has compounded the ill effects of decades of harmful U.S. policy actions towards Iraq since the 1960s, including economic sanctions in the 1990s that were devastating for Iraqis.

      Despite more than $100 billion committed to aiding and reconstructing Iraq, many parts of the country still suffer from lack of access to clean drinking water and housing.

      Why did Native Americans lose their land?
      Starting in the 17th century, European settlers pushed Indigenous people off their land, with the backing of the colonial government and, later, the fledging United States.

      https://www.science.org/content/article/native-tribes-have-lost-99-their-land-united-states

  13. Reminds me of what my father said about going over to France in the very early days of WW2 when Britain was totally unprepared for war . The first time they had any gun training was on the 2hr trip from England to France . Four months later he just survived the retreat at Dunkirk , many of course did not .

    1. Not anymore though, although we haven’t the biggest army in the world i can safely say we are the most well trained and prepared…

  14. “Use tampons” OMG, that has to be the most degrading thing a soldier has to hear before going to the battle field.

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