Russian Troops ‘Undermined’ By 1 Major Flaw In Putin’s Own Government, UK Says

Vladimir Putin’s army is being “undermined” by the “endemic corruption” in Russia’s own defence department, according to the UK.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) claimed in its latest update on X that the “effectiveness” of Russian troops is being weighed down by the bribery going on behind the scenes.

The update comes as the third anniversary of Putin’s war approaches with no definite end in sight, and Russian army personnel have already endured a staggering number of casualties (more than 830,000 since February 2022, according to Ukraine).

The Kremlin is reportedly forcing injured Russian troops back to the frontline “on crutches”, too.

The MoD said on Monday: “It is likely endemic corruption within the Russian Ministry of Defence and broader defence industry significantly undermines the effectiveness of the Russian military.

“Some of this corruption is tolerated by the Kremlin, but there have been increasing crackdowns on those not sufficiently politically protected since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

Former Russian major-general Alexander Oglobin is reportedly standing trail on charges of major bribery right now.

He allegedly took 12 million rubles from a telecommunications company to secure government contracts.

Oglobin had already been stripped of his rank and sentenced to four and a half years behind bars for embezzling 1.6 billion rubles of budget funds in February 2022.

And last month, a former 1st Air and Missile Defence Army commander, Konstantin Ogiyenko, was stripped of his title and sentenced to eight years for attempted bribery.

Yet the UK intelligence officers said: “It is highly unlikely Russian authorities will significantly reduce corruption levels amongst Russian defence officials.”

The MoD previously reported in October that “this [corrupt] behaviour is fundamental to the functioning of the regime.”

The officials added: “Russian authorities are likely seeking to limit corruption to more manageable levels that have a less drastic impact of the function of [each] department.”

Meanwhile, on Monday, UK prime minister Keir Stamer called for all of Europe to come together to “crush Putin’s war machine” and promised “to give more military support to Ukraine than ever before”.