Featured Image Credit: Alamy/a1b0r/Reddit
Topics: Russia, Reddit, World News
Cameron Frew
The diet of invading Russian troops has been revealed after Ukrainian troops seized battlefield supplies.
It's the 21st day of Vladimir Putin's 'special military operation'. While Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes negotiating positions are beginning to 'sound more realistic', casualties and shelling continue to blight the country.
However, as the conflict stretches beyond three weeks, the UK's Ministry of Defence believes Russia is 'struggling to conduct offensive operations in the face of sustained Ukrainian resistance'.
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Footage shared to Reddit by u/a1b0r purports to show a large Russian army mobile field kitchen seized by Ukrainian soldiers.
After observing the muddy exterior of the vehicle, the video then ventures inside to reveal the kitchen, with bagged ingredients and other items of food scattered across the floor.
While not indicative of the daily intake of the entire Russian Armed Forces, the ingredients aboard the vehicle are minimal at best: potatoes, onions, jars of pickles and some form of sachets, possibly filled with rice.
Reports of Russians running out of food emerged one week into the invasion, particularly from the stalled convoy trying to make progress towards Kyiv.
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'One reason why things appear to be stalled north of Kyiv is that the Russians themselves are regrouping and rethinking and trying to adjust to the challenges that they've had,' a US defence official told Reuters.
'In many cases, what we're seeing are columns that are literally out of gas. Now they're starting to run out of food for their troops,' another said.
James Rands, from intelligence agency Janes, also told iNews: 'They’ve been reliant on the elite forces, the VDV (Russian Airborne Forces) and this huge army that follows up.
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'The VDV failed to take their objectives early on and took heavy casualties. What you’ve now got is forces that have a lot of equipment [but] we’re not sure how well maintained that equipment actually is.
'We’ve seen footage of Russian soldiers on foot marching backwards, having abandoned their vehicles, towards the border. We’ve seen footage of rations which are seven years out of date which were issued to the Russians. That will smash morale.'
According to CNN, Russia asked China to supply ready-to-eat meals for its troops on the frontline, as well as military and financial assistance.
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While the Chinese foreign ministry has denied these claims, describing them as misinformation, a source told the outlet that China is considering helping the Russian forces, but remains concerned about provoking the West.
If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information