Since the start of the invasion in February, Russian forces have struggled with widespread morale problems among their ranks, and the problems appear to have gotten worse.
According to a US defense official, Russian troops and “mid-grade officers at various levels, even up to the battalion level” are reportedly refusing to obey orders to move forward in the new Donbas offensive in Ukraine, which is just one of numerous problems that have plagued the Russian military during this war, CNN reports.
The official told reporters that Russian forces “have either refused to obey orders or are not obeying them with the same measure of alacrity that you would expect an officer to obey.”
Russian troops are also still facing logistics issues that are slowing their progress, the official said.
