Authors

Discussion

Intercepted frontline phone calls and Telegram messages from relatives of Russian soldiers have exposed persistent issues within the Russian military, including supply shortages, logistical breakdowns, weak command chains, poor rotation practices, and abuse from senior officers. Additionally, accounts reveal brutal violence within the ranks and toward Ukrainian civilians, along with widespread corruption. These challenges have come as a surprise to many, given widespread expectations of improvement in personnel management after the military reforms of the early 2000s.

This study qualitatively analyses narratives shared by and about Russian soldiers to explore the question: what problems within Russian military culture and personnel management do these accounts reveal? Furthermore, the study considers whether military authorities recognize these issues as critical concerns. By tracing the socio-cultural roots of Russian military traditions, I hypothesize that elements such as Suvorov’s legacy—emphasizing the 'superiority of moral factors over material resources'—and the growing influence of Orthodox religious values, which glorify collective sacrifice, contribute to a military culture that deprioritizes organizational development. Instead, these elements legitimize the use of soldiers as expendable mass. This orientation, coupled with the tradition of military artels and an expectation for society’s active support of war efforts, has placed the responsibility for supplying soldiers with essential gear on their families. This study critically examines current cultural and ideological frameworks within Russia, identifying them as potential obstacles to modernizing military personnel practices.