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Jingocat t1_j6ddoxz wrote

>“We talked with officers, and they say that if hostilities begin, then 90 percent of conscripts will think about how to desert,” Azarov said. “They won’t take part in hostilities. At least they will try not to take part.”

Can you imagine? That would be nuts.

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ICameToUpdoot t1_j6e4q9u wrote

So something like 10% of the military and the government vs 90% of the military and a popular uprising... Think that would be skipping the civil war and just straig up overthrowing the leaders almost peacefully.

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tdring22 t1_j6e71qz wrote

This doesn't account for the Russian troops in Belarus though

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PumpkinManGuy t1_j6edfsn wrote

Imagine the Russia we know trying to fight a war on two fronts.

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tdring22 t1_j6edpio wrote

If 90% of the army deserts then all that's left is civilians which Russia has more experience controlling

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PumpkinManGuy t1_j6edy41 wrote

I really don't think that the 90% who desert would be keen on seeing their families stomped down like that.

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tdring22 t1_j6eelky wrote

I hope so. I honestly think at this point Belarus tieing up Ukrainian troops on the border is the best he can hope for but time will tell

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Staerke t1_j6fcjss wrote

These conscripts don't want to die for Putin, who says they won't want to die for their families and their homes

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black641 t1_j6haoet wrote

No military could hope to control 90% of a country's population. Not the US, not China, no one. If 90% of the population wants you out of their home, you're gonna leave one way or the other. Trying to do otherwise would be like standing on the beach and yelling at a tsunami to back up.

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realnrh t1_j6g0w6s wrote

I strongly suspect that the Russian troops in Belarus are the ones who could pay the bribes to not get sent to Ukraine. If faced with actual fighting in Belarus, they'll again take the life-saving way out.

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plipyplop t1_j6dezem wrote

And they're armed. I bet there are even field grade officers who're like, "War? Nah, fuck that noise..."

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jagnew78 t1_j6f8bc3 wrote

One of the major realizations Britain had in WWII prior to the bombing of Britain happening was how critical morale was to the standing army. Not only keeping them well fed and warm, but also showing them that officers and command cared about them and weren't spending their lives needlessly. And also crucially that what they were fighting for mattered.

Russia has yet to come to this realization

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plipyplop t1_j6f933n wrote

That kind of unbridled emperor-like god syndrome is familiar to russia. Everything that has happened to them is like a trickle-down of abuse that seems to perpetuate itself, from one generation to the next. Since every war it has fought seems to be a human meat-wave of satisfying results, little needs be changed other than the equipment. Hence, why you are correct: "Russia has yet to come to this realization".

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gechu t1_j6gzazd wrote

This is why Wagner is critical to Russia's success. Those mercs are in it for the money.

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dontcallmeatallpls t1_j6fymig wrote

This literally already happened. Luka was supposed to join the war on day 1. His military refused. Why? Because they aren't shit people who want to kill their Ukrainian brothers. As it turns out, Russians aren't being forced to kill Ukrainians, they choose to, and their only qualm with it is they want it to be somebody else dying to do it.

Police state my ass, they have a choice. This proves it.

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Wizywig t1_j6g3adu wrote

This is why Belarus has avoided the war. He knows that it will cause him to either send his loyalists to fight and die leaving him undefended or sending in non loyalists to bolster the Ukrainian forces.

Lose/lose situation.

Hopefully this teaches other wannabe dictators: side with a maniac and learn just how quickly you get thrown to the wolves.

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WaterIsGolden t1_j6edd7r wrote

Not nuts at all. Just humans that prefer not to kill other humans.

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[deleted] t1_j6enboc wrote

[deleted]

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isawagoose t1_j6eqznp wrote

>Naw, they signed up to kill people.

Do you not know what a conscript is?

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[deleted] t1_j6ercr4 wrote

[deleted]

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isawagoose t1_j6et5z4 wrote

A conscript is someone who is drafted into military service involuntarily. A concript cannot have "signed up to kill people," because a person who signed up is, by definition, not a conscript.

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Otterfan t1_j6eqar4 wrote

Almost everyone in the Belarus army is drafted. They didn't sign up for anything, other than not going to jail.

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spannerNZ t1_j6gbjih wrote

It's become a truism "suppose they held a war and nobody came".

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