Russian corruption fuels massive casualties in Ukraine

[0:00] New research estimates Russian forces have suffered more than one million casualties [0:04] in its war against Ukraine. At the same time, its territorial gains have been some of the [0:09] slowest in modern history. Tonight, we get a rare look at the Kremlin's war machine. [0:15] Special correspondent Simon Ostrovsky reveals the brutality and the corruption [0:19] eating away at the Russian military from the inside. [0:23] And a warning, viewers may find some scenes in this report disturbing. [0:31] In Russia's military, men learn quickly to fear their commanders more than their foe. [0:38] This is the treatment awaiting those who refuse to hand over their pay. [0:44] Hundreds of videos circulating on Russian social media reveal horrific punishments by [0:50] superiors extorting money from their men. Soldiers report being locked in cages, [0:56] electrocuted and sexually assaulted. Those wounded, but lucky enough to survive, [1:03] must pay thousands more to be declared. [1:05] Unfit for service, for they're forced to literally limp into battle. [1:12] Russian warriors, this is how we go to the front. [1:16] Corruption dictating who lives and who dies. In Russia, military cemeteries are running out of [1:23] space to bury the dead, while the authorities are trying to keep the scale of their losses secret [1:28] by blurring them on maps. New research published by the Center for Strategic and International [1:34] Studies in Washington, D.C., shows the extraordinary impact of the war on the [1:37] people of Ukraine. [1:38] The war on the people of Ukraine is not just about the war on the people of Ukraine. [1:39] It's about the extraordinary price Russia is paying as its war on Ukraine grinds on [1:42] into its fifth year. [1:44] Between the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022 and the end of last year, Russian [1:48] forces have suffered 1.2 million casualties, which include the dead, wounded and missing. [1:55] Out of that staggering number, as many as 325,000 are believed to be dead. [2:01] One of the report's authors is Seth Jones, a former senior official in the Department [2:06] of Defense. [2:07] He said many Russians are dying. [2:08] He said they're dying because they're unable to pay bribes and are being sent to the front [2:12] lines to be killed. [2:13] SETH JONES, Former U.S. Attorney General for Ukraine, They're being used as bait. [2:16] So they draw fire. [2:18] And when there's artillery that goes off, Russian artillery or Russian drones are able [2:22] to, say, spot where Ukrainian locations are. [2:26] MICHAEL GERSON, Former U.S. Attorney General for Ukraine, One of the things I have been [2:29] struck by, as I have looked at the video footage that's come out of this war, is that you often [2:35] see soldiers who are totally unfit for duty. [2:38] I'm talking about people who are on crutches, people who are missing limbs. [2:43] You have to ask yourself, why is this happening? [2:45] What kind of a strategy is that? [2:46] SETH JONES, Former U.S. Attorney General for Ukraine, I think this is where the Russians [2:48] believe this is the least worst strategy, because they have an advantage in numbers. [2:57] The problem, of course, is that it leads to historical numbers of casualties. [3:01] It is unprecedented since World War II. [3:04] JEFFREY BROWN, Another way of looking at it is by comparison to America's deadliest war, [3:10] since World War II, the Vietnam War. [3:14] Here in Washington, D.C., at the Vietnam War Memorial, the names of servicemen and women [3:19] who died and went missing in Vietnam are commemorated on these walls. [3:24] In total, it's about 58,000 names. [3:28] Russia's war dead in just four years are more than five times that number. [3:32] And the multiple is even higher if you consider the missing in action. [3:36] NICK SCHIFRIN, After nearly two decades, the widely unpopular Vietnam War ended with a [3:42] new war, an embarrassing withdrawal of American troops, and the fall of South Vietnam. [3:47] With Ukraine, the Kremlin has managed to project strength both at home to its citizens and [3:54] abroad when it comes to negotiating for land. [3:57] Last year, President Donald Trump even told his aides the Russian army looked invincible [4:02] after seeing footage from this military parade in Moscow. [4:07] Yet on the actual battlefield, Russia's forces have advanced at a slower pace than any major [4:13] offensive campaign in any country. [4:14] That's why the U.S. is so concerned. [4:15] The U.S. has been the most aggressive in its history in any war in the last century. [4:17] DAVID RASKIN, Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Russia, The U.S. has seen average [4:20] rates of advance around 15 meters per day and, in some cases, up to 70 meters per day. [4:28] The battle... [4:29] NICK SCHIFRIN, The advances are being measured in meters. [4:31] DAVID RASKIN, Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Russia, Meters, right. [4:32] NICK SCHIFRIN, Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Russia, That sounds like World War [4:33] I. [4:34] DAVID RASKIN, Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Russia, It's even slower than World [4:36] War I. [4:37] So this is slower than some of the slowest and most casualty-accepting campaigns we've [4:45] seen in any war. [4:47] in the last century. [4:48] SIMON OSTROVSKY, In Russia, promises of generous sign-up bonuses and a steady paycheck [4:54] have managed to feed enlistment drives, with recruitment targeted at the country's poorest [4:59] regions. For now, that's helped compensate for the high battlefield casualty rates. [5:06] Heartbreaking. Our boys are once again being sent to the Special Military Operation Zone. [5:11] SIMON OSTROVSKY, Leaked messages sent to this government Web site show [5:15] mounting desperation among Russian soldiers and their families. [5:19] Obtained by the independent Russian outlet Radio Echo, nearly 12,000 complaints filed [5:24] over six months last year accused commanders of corruption and violence towards their own men. [5:30] In this 2025 video, military police in the Siberian region of Tuva [5:38] beat and electrocute wounded soldiers to force them back to the front. [5:46] Alexandra Arkhipova is a Russian researcher who has spent weeks sifting through the [5:50] letters to verify their authenticity and catalogue the brutality that the Russian [5:55] military is inflicting on its own men. [5:57] ALEXANDRA ARKHIPOVA, In many cases, in many letters, the people are saying that, [6:01] literally, we paid everything to have our father, brother, husband not to be killed. [6:08] In many cases, superiors, they use tortures to take money from the soldiers. [6:14] SIMON OSTROVSKY, How the did you end up here? [6:17] ALEXANDRA ARKHIPOVA, I refused to go on the mission. [6:19] SIMON OSTROVSKY, Why the did you end up here? [6:19] ALEXANDRA ARKHIPOVA, I refused to go on the mission. [6:19] SIMON OSTROVSKY, Why the did you end up here? [6:19] ALEXANDRA ARKHIPOVA, I refused to go on the mission. [6:20] SIMON OSTROVSKY, Why the did you think you could do that? [6:21] ALEXANDRA ARKHIPOVA, I'm wounded. [6:23] SIMON OSTROVSKY, And this is the Russian Army doing this to its own soldiers? [6:26] ALEXANDRA ARKHIPOVA, Yes, correct. [6:28] SIMON OSTROVSKY, She told PBS News the Army shifts the cost of the war in Ukraine [6:32] onto the soldiers themselves through extortion. [6:35] Soldiers report handing over up to 80 percent of their salary just to stay alive. [6:40] ALEXANDRA ARKHIPOVA, What did he do to you? [6:41] ALEXANDRA ARKHIPOVA, He shoved a . [6:43] SIMON OSTROVSKY, Why? What for? [6:45] ALEXANDRA ARKHIPOVA, Because I didn't give him money. [6:47] SIMON OSTROVSKY, How much was he demanding? [6:49] ALEXANDRA ARKHIPOVA, Thirty-nine hundred dollars. [6:51] SIMON OSTROVSKY, Price lists dictate new rules of engagement, [6:55] $2,000 to be assigned to a post as a drone operator away from the front line, [7:00] $6,000 to serve in the rear, a staggering $12,000 for a forged discharge on medical grounds. [7:09] The picture you describe is hellish. If the entire military is functioning like this, [7:15] it couldn't really perpetuate the war for much longer. [7:18] ALEXANDRA ARKHIPOVA, It's a situation [7:19] in Russia. From the economical point of view, it's very bad. Poor people, [7:25] they became poor, and so they go to the war. Taxes are going up, and it's a big problem [7:32] now what to buy for dinner. And this is the price of the war. [7:36] SIMON OSTROVSKY, With Russian oil and gas revenues down 24 percent last year, [7:42] the price of war is no longer just the 35,000 Russian casualties a month. It's also new taxes [7:49] the government has been forced to levy, coupled with skyrocketing prices for consumer goods. [7:55] In the fifth year of what was meant to be a three-day war, [7:59] the outlook for Russia has never been so grim. [8:03] For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Simon Ostrovsky in Washington, D.C. [8:07] SIMON OSTROVSKY, Support journalism you trust, [8:19] support PBS News. Donate now, or even better, start a monthly contribution today.