Russia sends disabled soldiers to the slaughter

9 comments

1. ***The Telegraph reports:***

   A wounded man lies in a muddy ditch, stripped of his uniform and too weak to stand. His ribs protrude beneath the chain of his dog tags, the only trace of the soldier he once was. He murmurs incoherently, clearly too mentally incapacitated to communicate or move.

   The man in the video is one of several mentally disabled men reportedly sent to [the front line](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/russia-ukraine-war/) by Russia, The Telegraph has been told.

   Ukrainian officials say it is a strategy that reflects Moscow’s growing reliance on vulnerable recruits and its willingness to deploy an [almost limitless supply of manpower](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/08/19/russia-is-years-from-victory-trump-putin/) to make gains on the front lines, regardless of the human cost.

   Sources inside the military have shared research with The Telegraph detailing five cases that they say expose how Russia is willing to send soldiers who are [disabled](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/disability/) or suffering from disease to the front line.

   “Russia will never run out of people,” said Anna, a member of [Ukraine’s defence forces](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/11/03/ukraine-strikes-elite-russian-unit-on-black-sea-oil-rig/) with close ties to the security services.

   “This means if sacrificing one man per 10 metres advances them and puts pressure on us, [they will do it]; it is an effective tactic in a society where there is no price to pay for sacrificing the poor,” added Anna, whose name has been changed because of security concerns.

   The video of the incapacitated man is not a lone case, but part of a troubling pattern emerging in Russia’s forces, according to Dmytro Zhmailo, a military-political expert and executive director of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre (USCC).

   “Such cases are not isolated and are quite systematic,” Mr Zhmailo told The Telegraph.

   “Due to the need for manpower, against the backdrop of high losses in the army, Russia is forced to recruit citizens regardless of their health or physical disabilities.”

   **Read more:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/11/06/russia-sends-disabled-soldiers-slaughter-ukraine-war-army/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/11/06/russia-sends-disabled-soldiers-slaughter-ukraine-war-army/)

2. Its the Sparta way

3. I want to see putin tied to a tree when this is over.

4. Dont believe everything you read lol

5. I mean it’s probably pretty slim pickings over there…

6. Russia basically sends sick people with HIV straight into the meat grinder. Not exactly news.

7. The insanity of putin is never more so clear.

   War crimes against his own people.

   Слава Україні!

8. Both sides are doing this & it’s fucked. 
   We all remember the down syndrome Ukraine guy featured in a number of videos a few years ago right? Or did everybody forget all of a sudden?

9. Am I even surprised?

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