Recent video coming out of Ukraine recorded by mobilized Russian conscripts captures the dire circumstances in which Russian troops are operating without orders and equipment.

I am of the firm belief that the Russians are losing in Ukraine not due to a lack of equipment or personnel, but due to a lack of non-commissioned officers capable of leading troops in the absence of orders. Time and time again we've seen the Russians failing at the most basic of Soldiering concepts. This is because the troops in the field are unable to learn critical warfighting techniques from trained non-commissioned officers, and no one is around to keep the Russian troops doing the right thing regardless of discomfort.

We've seen dozens of instances of abandoned Russian armor sitting in the open with the crew in a nearby building sleeping. We've also seen entire trench lines full of sleeping Russians with no one on guard duty. Russian patrols often stop without using simple Guardian Angel techniques that would keep the resting men safe, and as a result dozens of Russian groups in platoon size strength have been entirely wiped off of the map. This is a clear display of a lack of true combat leadership, as commissioned officers cannot be leading troops at the fireteam size, and troop welfare that prevents videos like this from being made is the job of senior non-commissioned officers.

This video only exacerbates the issues the Russians have been facing thus far. It's not a matter of propaganda here either. Covering up this video or writing it off as propaganda will not make the situation on the ground for front-line Russian warfighters change. Without senior and junior non-commissioned officers on the ground capable of keeping the small-units operational through good discipline and constant training, the Russians will only continue to lose ground against hyper-aggressive and western trained Ukrainian forces utilizing Maneuver Warfare Doctrine.

The only way that Russia can solve this issue is to begin the wholesale retraining of Russian Soldiers who are already displaying strong leadership traits. Pulling those men from the front-line and retraining them over several months into effective non-commissioned officers may stem the bleeding in the current conflict. In the long-term however, Russia needs to do a deep dive into their own military to cull corruption from within their own ranks. Regardless, as their military currently stands, the entire fighting force is entirely incapable of winning a conflict against any nation capable of standing and fighting on their own two feet, and it's a direct result of decades of corruption.