Britain Says Russia Has Lost A Lot Of Junior Officers, Lacks Platoon And Battalion Commanders

Russian military illustration. (Source: Russian Ministry of Defense/Evgeny Polovodov/Dmitry Gutov

JAKARTA - The British Ministry of Defense says Russia is likely to lose a lot of middle and junior officers in the conflict in Ukraine, making Moscow's military effectiveness lower in the future.

Brigade and battalion commanders may be deployed to the most dangerous positions, however, junior officers must lead low-level tactical actions, the ministry said on Twitter in its latest Defense Intelligence update.

"With some credible reports of local insurgency among Russian troops in Ukraine, the lack of an experienced and credible platoon and company commander is likely to result in further deterioration in morale and continued poor discipline," the ministry said. .

The loss of junior officers is likely to exacerbate Russia's problems modernizing its military command and control, the ministry added.

"More soon, the tactical battalion group reconstituted in Ukraine from the few surviving units, is likely to be less effective due to the lack of junior leaders," the statement said.

Russian troops intensified their offensive on Monday to capture Sievierodonetsk, a key city in Ukraine's southeastern Donbas region that Moscow had targeted for failing to capture the capital Kyiv at the start of the war.