THE RIGHT IS THE LEFT:

The "great eastern offensive" isn't doing at all well after several days. There are additionally reports of Chechen troops shooting Russian troops who rioted over lack of pay and other matters.

Russia's hired private armies are also getting into pretty bad shape. 20,000 mercenaries including the Wagner Group are involved in the Ukraine campaign. The Wagner Group has reportedly been severely diminished by casualties, although even the number of Wagner Group mercenaries deployed isn't clear from reports.

Hiring mercenaries rather than using Russian troops is indicative of serious and obviously endemic problems in the Russian military. If this is how Russia manages combat capacity on its own doorstep, what happens if Russia does get involved in a war with the West?

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