A former commander of the Russian Airborne Forces (Airborne Forces) took the liberty of publicly criticizing Vladimir Putin's army. while it continues to wage a full-scale war against Ukraine.
A retired Russian general has criticized the country's defense ministry for providing soldiers participating in the war in Ukraine with poor-quality uniforms, Newsweek reported.
The remarks were made by the Deputy Chairman of the Defense Committee of the State Duma of Russia Vladimir Shamanov, former Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Airborne Forces, in an address to the lower house of parliament.
Public criticism of President Vladimir Putin's military is rare, given that Russia's parliament passed legislation in March 2022 imposing up to 15 years in prison for deliberately spreading “fake” news about the country's army.
The Kremlin has used the law to prosecute those who deviate from Putin's narrative of the war, and has even charged and jailed its own military personnel for “discrediting” of the country's armed forces.
Shamanov led the Russian Airborne Forces from May 2009 to October 2016. Shamanov compared the Russian military to a "guerrilla squad,", claiming that Russian soldiers are forced to dress themselves because the military uniforms provided are of such poor quality .
Even after the start of the full-scale war, there were reports that Putin's army was sending its own soldiers to the front poorly dressed, poorly trained and with outdated weaponry. For Putin, the lives of his own soldiers do not matter and they are thrown into the meat grinder at the front.