Russian courts are convicting an increasing number of Russians of desertionwhich suggests that the morale of Russian soldiers is low, according to the latest assessment of the British Ministry of Defence.

“The refusal to fight probably reflects the lack of training, motivation and situations of intense stress experienced by Russian forces along the entire Ukrainian front line,” the ministry said in a post on the X (formerly Twitter) platform.

The analysis refers to a report by the independent Russian website Mediazona on July 18, according to which nearly 100 soldiers are convicted each week for refusing to obey orders.

“The high conviction rate shows the poor state of morale in the Russian military and the reluctance of some to fight,” the report said.

This has however little impact on force numbers as Russia makes up for manpower losses by sending massive numbers of poorly trained soldiers to the front, according to the analysis.

“Since the partial mobilization of Russian forces in September 2022, Russia has adapted its approach to warfare by using (soldiers) en masse for its offensive and defensive operations,” the same source concluded.