Desperate Putin hits new low as Russia sends disabled soldiers to the slaughter

Russia is allegedly sending severely mentally disabled men to the frontline in Ukraine. Research from sources inside the Ukrainian military is said to show five cases of Russia sending soldiers, who are disabled or suffering from disease, to the front.

Experts and military insiders have said this is evidence of Moscow's preparedness to deploy mass numbers, while suffering mass casualties, to gain ground in the bitter war, which is approaching its fourth anniversary. British intelligence last month estimated Russia has likely suffered some 1.118 million casualties since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with around 332,000 killed or wounded this year alone. Russia's use of so-called meat grinder and zombie waves tactics to overwhelm Ukrainian defences has been well-documented, but has seen Vladimir Putin's forces face a significant number of losses.

A Ukrainian commander, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Telegraph that senior officials knew of at least two mentally disabled Russians being sent to the frontline in Ukraine.

The report added that the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre has also documented two cases, while another case was allegedly shown in a video shared online.

The commander said one case involved a 27-year-old Russian who could not read or write and, as a child, was diagnosed with an "intellectual disability with significant behavioural disorders requiring care and treatment".

Despite this lifelong condition, he was allegedly deemed fit for military service as a prison medical commission classified him as "Category A".

The man, named by The Telegraph as Semyon Karmanov, was reportedly flown from a prison to a training camp in an occupied region of eastern Ukraine.

It is said he was issued with a military ID detailing him as a "driver", however, his mother said he could not drive. He was reportedly killed on the frontline this autumn.

A Ukrainian military member called Anna, which is not her real name, told The Telegraph that Russia is using sheer numbers to make up for inferior equipment and less-skilled troops.

She said: "The difference is the unrelenting waves of help.

"Every soldier is a tool to either acquire land or die trying, all the better if they take us with them. The partners and public must realise that the Kremlin doesn't view its infantry as humans but chattels."