As morale suffers, Russia and Ukraine fight a war of mental attrition

A few months ago, as Ukraine’s military was still struggling to break through Russia’s defenses in the southern Kherson region, members of the 60th Infantry Brigade managed to snatch one of the Russians’ Motorola radios and listen in on their enemy’s conversations.

They chuckled at the call signs the Russians picked for themselves — one even went by “Maidan,” a reference to Kyiv’s central square, the Ukrainian troops said. But they also marveled at the constant griping they heard.

One time, a Russian soldier said he hadn’t been fed at all that day. On Aug. 24, exactly six months after Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, one Russian told another over the radio that it was the anniversary of when they “were all fooled,” the Ukrainians said.

“They’re demoralized,” said a 24-year-old Ukrainian soldier in the 60th Brigade who, like others in this story, asked to be identified by his call sign, Porokh. “You could hear it in the tone of their voice and what they were saying.”

But Ukrainian soldiers are also feeling fatigue — physically and mentally — even though they are more motivated because they are defending their homeland and trying to protect civilians dying daily in Russian attacks. Some units, like the 60th Brigade, have not had a break from battle action since the start of the war nearly eight months ago. The fight is unyielding, and commanders fear a drop in performance if less experienced forces rotate in.

As the dark days of winter approach, keeping up morale is a challenge for each side in what is quickly morphing into a war of mental attrition.

In Moscow’s ranks, the casualty count is high and forces have been in a retreat for more than a month — first in the northeast Kharkiv region and now in Ukraine’s south. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent mobilization has forced men who might not believe in the war to fight in it.

On the Ukrainian side, the men from the 60th Brigade are not the only ones who haven’t gotten an extended break. The 93rd Mechanized Brigade went from helping expel the Russians from the northern Sumy region in the spring to holding the line near Izyum over the summer, and it is now under constant bombardment in the Donetsk region.

One soldier in the brigade said his battalion already has “many losses” and “not enough strength or resources,” which was why he said he was concerned about Russia sending 300,000 or more reinforcements to the front — even if they are unmotivated and poorly trained.

“People need some rest,” the soldier said, adding that the situation will worsen once the weather turns colder.

The difference between now and the prior eight years of fighting Kremlin proxies in the eastern Donbas region is that, for much of that time, soldiers could take vacations from the front. There were regular rotations. And their contracts for service had end dates.

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