A Scandal Is Brewing In The Russian Armed Forces Over The Mass Disappearance Of Soldiers

• 4.08.2026, 10:39

In just one brigade alone, the number of missing personnel runs into the thousands.

The Russian command is concealing the actual casualties among its soldiers and is categorizing the dead en masse as missing in action. Relatives of the occupiers who are trying to find out the fate of their loved ones are being intimidated with criminal charges and the withholding of benefits.

This was reported on the Telegram channel of the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar military movement “Atesh.” They emphasized that the Russian military leadership is attempting to conceal the scale of its losses on the front lines in this way.

In the Russian brigade, the number of missing in action is in the thousands

Agents of the “Atesh” movement, operating within one of the Russian command centers, claim that in the 64th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade, fighting near Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region, the number of soldiers officially listed as missing in action already runs into the thousands.

“The brigade commander Dmitry Shabaev systematically ignores the numerous statements, requests, and protests from the wives and mothers of soldiers who are trying to find out the fate of their loved ones,” the statement reads.

The partisan movement emphasized that the Russian military leadership relies on commanders who do not take personnel losses into account. According to the partisans, since Shabaev was appointed brigade commander in 2025, the unit has suffered significant losses, and the dead are often listed as missing in action to conceal the true extent of the losses.