Russia says it will deploy musicians to the front lines of the war in Ukraine to “boost morale” of its soldiers.
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The Defense Ministry this week announced the formation of what it called the “Frontline Creativity Brigade”, saying it would include singers and musicians.
This came at a time when the Russian military said Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had visited front-line troops in Ukraine.
In a statement posted on the Telegram app, the defense ministry said Shoigu was “inspecting Russian forces deployed in the military special operation area,” including the front line, to talk to soldiers.
He added that he “talked to forces on the front lines” and in a “command centre”. The statement did not mention the date of this visit, but his announcement comes two days after a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of the military operation in Ukraine, including Shoigu.
The British Defense Ministry highlighted the brigade’s creation in an intelligence update on Sunday.
The visit comes as British defense officials say “low morale” remains a “significant weakness in most Russian forces”.
According to Russian news site RBC, the brigade will consist of soldiers mobilized as part of President Vladimir Putin’s recruitment campaign, as well as “professional artists who voluntarily entered military service”.
The agency quoted the Defense Ministry as saying the new unit would be tasked with maintaining a “high moral, political and psychological state”. [بين] Participants in the special military operation.
Britain said the new creative brigade, which follows a recent campaign urging the public to donate musical instruments to troops, was in line with the historic use of “military music and organized entertainment” to boost morale.
But they questioned whether the new brigade would distract elements of the force, who were primarily concerned with “extremely high casualty rates, poor leadership, wage problems, shortages of equipment and ammunition, and lack of clarity about war objectives”.
On the other hand, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the killing of about 175 Ukrainian soldiers in the last 24 hours in different areas of the front, as well as taking control of the village of Yakovlevka in Donetsk.
Heavy fighting continued around the town of Bakhmut in the eastern Donbass region on Saturday, according to the Ukrainian General Staff.
The region has witnessed months of violent clashes between Ukrainian and Russian forces.
Western intelligence officials have previously said that Russian attacks on the city are led by private security contractor Wagner Group.
Moscow hopes to use the city as a springboard for operations against the Ukrainian-controlled cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said heating had been restored in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, after Russia launched large-scale strikes against its electricity and water infrastructure on Friday.
Yesterday, Russia announced the success of its missile strikes against the military command and control systems, the military-industrial complex and energy structures of Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that “as a result of the attacks, the transfer of foreign weapons and ammunition was halted and the progress of reserves in combat zones was halted”.
Moscow launched 76 missiles on Friday, some of which hit nine power plants and plunged much of the country into darkness. Ukraine said it intercepted 60 missiles.
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