Fragile morale continues to be “a significant vulnerability” among a large amount of Russian troops, but Moscow’s attempt to raise their motivation through entertainment on the battlefield is unlikely to work, the U.K. Defense Ministry said on Dec. 18.
After a series of humiliating battlefield defeats, Russian troops suffer “very high casualty rates, poor leadership, pay problems, lack of equipment and ammunition, and lack of clarity about the war’s objectives,” according to the ministry’s daily intelligence briefing.
The U.K.’s assessment comes a few days after the Russian Defense Ministry on Dec. 14 announced the establishment of front-line "creative brigades" deployed to bring cultural and artistic events to raise soldiers' morale on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Moscow said its establishment of two such teams consisted of mobilized citizens and professional artists, which included opera singers, actors, and a circus performer.
The newly introduced entertainment program on the battlefield is “unlikely to substantively alleviate these concerns,” it added.
“Military music and organized entertainment for deployed troops have a long history in many militaries, but in Russia, they are strongly intertwined with the Soviet-era concept of ideological political education,” the U.K. Defense Ministry said.
“The creative brigades’ efforts are unlikely to substantively alleviate these concerns.”
