Kremlin nationalist bloggers complain about Russian field commanders misplacing anti-tank barricades. According to critics, their own soldiers and civilians are hitting them. The concrete pyramids, which are about 1.2 meters high, are meant to block and damage Ukrainian tanks and other armored vehicles.
Someone is placing dragon’s teeth on roads in the Kursk region at night, the Russians claim. One of them wrecked a car. | Video: Aktuálně.cz/X/Wartranslated
The American think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) cited the posts of bloggers on the Telegram social network. Angry hard-liners describe the havoc on roads caused by cone-shaped anti-tank barricades called “dragon’s teeth” in southern Russia’s Kursk region.
Russian military bloggers, who have long been an important source of independent information about the Russian military, have complained that dozens of soldiers and civilians have been killed when they hit the roadblocks, according to ISW.
Reports indicate that communication between Russian field commanders, local law enforcement and engineering units regarding the construction of these fortifications is extremely poor, ISW said. For example, the Institute cites a Russian source, according to which an ambulance driver in the Rylsky district demolished his car with “dragon’s teeth”. The video of the incident, which you can watch at the beginning of the article, is circulating on social networks.
According to Newsweek, some Telegram accounts said the fortifications were the work of saboteurs who were deliberately trying to cause chaos in Russia. However, according to the Business Insider server, this information could not be verified.
Military bloggers have been criticizing Russian field commanders since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. They claim they are making incompetent decisions that are making Russia’s campaign more difficult. In the first weeks of Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region, they say, Russian commanders failed to coordinate defensive operations by Federal Security Service (FSB) units, local law enforcement and the military, allowing Ukraine to exploit the confusion.
Ukrainian forces now occupy approximately 386 square kilometers of Russian territory. In contrast, the Russians continue their slow advance in eastern Ukraine. For the aggressor, war is costly. According to the Atlantic Council think tank, Russia’s expected losses in 2024 so far range between 27 and 34 billion dollars.
Boston University economist Jay Zagorsky said in September that despite the cost, the war may be the only thing keeping Russia’s economy afloat. “The economy is now supported by a lot of government spending, so there’s not going to be a slowdown in any of its sectors that the Russian government buys from. So if it wasn’t for the war, oh yeah, I think there would be an immediate recession,” Zagorsky told Business Insider.
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