Conscripts on horseback: Russian military mocked online
The Russians have been conducting a full-scale invasion of Ukraine for nearly three years. Numerous videos showcasing the behavior of Putin's soldiers have appeared online. Recently, a video featuring conscripts from Yakutia riding horseback across a field surfaced. Ukrainians mockingly say this is how the "second army in the world" looks.
A video shared by former Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Anton Gerashchenko shows two soldiers boasting about possessing two Ukrainian horses. Although they claim the animals are obedient, they are not satisfied, believing they are too slow.
The Ukrainian politician mocks the invaders, reminding everyone that the Russian army was once called the "second army of the world," right after the American one. The war in Ukraine has brutally challenged this assertion since Putin's troops were unable to achieve their intended goals of decapitating the government in Kyiv and "neutralizing and denazifying" Ukraine.
Moreover, he compares the eastern soldiers to the army from the time of the Russian Empire, before 1917, when the Romanov state used people from the most remote parts of the country, in this case, the Yakuts, to invade neighbors.
"These soldiers are from the Republic of Sakha, a region incredibly rich in natural resources. Yet, the indigenous people of Sakha are fighting a war in Ukraine on stolen horses, while Moscow fills its coffers with proceeds from their diamonds, gold, gas, and oil," writes Gerashchenko.
The frontline situation in Ukraine
While the Ukrainian politician is certainly correct in pointing out the Russian army's backwardness, it should be noted that Putin's forces are learning from their early mistakes. Since the fall of 2024, Russia has taken the initiative on the frontline. Although progressing very slowly, it is capturing more villages and aiming to control at least four regions that Putin claims should be part of Russia. These are Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.
In January this year, the German magazine Die Welt reported that, according to its findings, the Russians are giving themselves until 2026 to achieve this goal. This would mean there is no chance of negotiating peace this year. Although the invaders are losing record numbers of conscripts, the Kremlin does not care about human losses.
