FLASH
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Russian officers are seeking to withdraw from the frontline around Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region. This comes after reports of "drunken commanders" operating in Russia's war theater in the Zaporizhia region.
The growing signs of poor discipline and mutiny among Kremlin troops come as Ukraine launches major attacks on multiple targets deep inside Putin's territory, while Russia celebrates Orthodox Christmas Eve today.
Putin, who has yet to appear in public for 2026, is expected to be at the church for the festive midnight service.
However, he is rattled by the US ban on his close ally, Nicolás Maduro, in Venezuela and significant unrest in Iran, a key Moscow partner and supporter of the war. He has also faced Donald Trump's New Year's ultimatum to end the bloodshed and American condemnation for his "false" claim to the US president that Ukraine tried to assassinate him at one of his residences.
The Russian resistance group ATESH, which supports Ukraine, claims that Putin's officers on the Pokrovsk front are begging to be reassigned to the "rearline" to escape death, according to Express. The widespread discontent is said to be within the 39th Guards Motorized Brigade, a mechanized infantry unit of the 68th Army Corps of the Eastern Military District.
Putin falsely declared last month that Pokrovsk had been "liberated," yet fighting continues in the strategic hub.
"The command is keeping officers under control with threats of disciplinary punishment, demotion, and complete career blockage."
Officers are severely reprimanded for surrendering positions by their subordinates, forced to report on a 'stable situation' that does not actually exist, and forced to sign documents that bear no resemblance to reality. Russian officers are 'completely demotivated, do not know local conditions well, and see the Pokrovsk front as a dangerous task,' ATESH declared.
According to ATESH, Russian soldiers are "increasingly filing reports requesting transfer to safer or quieter areas on the front line." They live in "constant fear of attacks from anti-tank missile systems and guerrillas, as well as the possibility that local residents have already leaked information about their command posts and movements to the Ukrainian Defense Forces."
This comes after revelations that the 74th Motor Rifle Regiment of the Russian Armed Forces stationed in the occupied Zaporizhia region is "suffering catastrophic losses due to commanders consuming alcohol."
Soldiers have informed ATESH that "orders are issued in a state of severe alcohol intoxication, without any understanding of the current situation."
"This has already resulted in the highest casualties in the unit during the entire period of combat operations. In the 'alcohol battalion', losses amount to about 100 people per month killed and wounded, significantly higher than in other units, amid meaningless orders from commanders."
"The fate of the battalion does not depend on tactics and the enemy, but on how much the commanders drank today," the ATESH report said.
"The Russians bombed the American property because the factory belongs to Bunge [Global SA], a company based in St Louis, Missouri," said Mayor Borys Filatov.
He revealed that about 300 tons of vegetable oil were spilled on the road after the attack. Russia also targeted houses in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region.
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