Russian Unit In Kherson Mutinies, Refuses To Fight Over Supply Shortages

The unit that mutinied was comprised of forcibly mobilized citizens from Donetsk and Luhansk. A sister regiment surrendered to Ukrainian troops on the first day of the counteroffensive. 

The reality is that many of the Russian forces are unreliable because they have not been paid, are supplied with substandard equipment and are only present because they were threatened with violence if they did not agree to serve. JL 

Isabel van Brugen reports in Newsweek:

The 127th Regiment of the 1st Army Corps in Ukraine's south rioted and refused to fight over a lack of vital supplies such as water. Russia formed the 127th Regiment of forcibly mobilized personnel in Donetsk and Luhansk in early April, alongside four other DNR regiments: the 103rd, 109th, 113th, and 125th. The DNR redeployed the 109th, 113th, and 125th regiments to northwestern Kherson in late July. The 109th Regiment surrendered on the first day of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. Russia is reinforcing front-line positions with inexperienced and forcefully mobilized elements that lack the will to fight.

A Russian military unit deployed in Ukraine's south has refused to fight over a lack of vital supplies such as water, Ukraine said Sunday.

Ukraine's Operational Command South reported in a Facebook post that soldiers with the 127th Regiment of the 1st Army Corps rioted, and refused to further participate in Russian President Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine.

According to the command, the soldiers lacked support, while personnel in advanced positions didn't have water.The servicemen were reportedly removed from their unit as punishment.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. think tank, noted that Russian forces formed the 127th Regiment of forcibly mobilized personnel in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblast in early April, alongside four other DNR regiments: the 103rd, 109th, 113th, and 125th.

ISW previously reported that the DNR redeployed the 109th, 113th, and 125th regiments to northwestern Kherson in late July, and the 109th regiment reportedly surrendered on the first day of the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The think tank assessed it is likely that Russian forces are reinforcing their front-line positions with inexperienced and forcefully mobilized elements that lack the will to fight.

It would not be the first time Russian soldiers have been accused of refusing to take up arms Ukraine.

In July, Andrei Rinchino, legal head of the Free Buryatia Foundation, told Russian independent media outlet MediaZona that 17 Russian soldiers were detained in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region for refusing to fight.

Rinchino said the men entered into short-term contracts with Russia's defense ministry and were locked up after they refused to continue to participate in the war and attempted to terminate their contracts.

Relatives of the soldiers told the news outlet that the men also received death threats for refusing to fight.