Russia’s Combat Compliance Problem: Why Moscow Has Struggled in Bakhmut and Elsewhere

Since the start of the war, Russia has made a number of apparently bad mistakes with its troop deployments and overall tactical decisions. This video explains why a good portion of them are a consequence of Russia's struggles with combat compliance. With soldiers reluctant to follow orders, Russia resorts to actions that command can verify compliance with, which ultimately leads to more Russian casualties than would otherwise occur.

0:00 Russia's Heavy Losses
2:29 War Requires Collective Action
3:55 Principal-Agent Problems in War
8:09 Instilling Automaticity in Soldiers
9:47 Changing Citizens' Ideology
12:32 Giving Soldiers Future Rewards
15:29 The Importance of Soldier Oversight
18:59 The Live-and-Live System of World War I
20:56 How Russian Probing Attacks Work
23:16 The Outlook for the War
24:57 Where's Putin?

he appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

By Ministry of Defense of Ukraine:

By Bundesarchiv:

[kevinlove]

Combat compliance is an issue that has been extensively studied in Western armies. As a retired Canadian Army officer, I can testify as to what the Canadian Army believes does and does not work.

Very much in the "not work" category are appeals to country or ideology. Few people will die for an abstract idea such as "democracy."

Somewhere in the middle are things like pay, rations, etc. As long as soldiers have a reasonable amount to eat, and know that their families are being taken care of back home, additional pay and rations rapidly hit a point of diminishing returns. Pro tip: Pay soldiers partly in the form of war bonds that the government will redeem after the war is over. Everyone knows that these will become worthless if the government loses the war, thereby providing an additional incentive to fight at zero present cost.

The two things that do work are: 1. Drills/rehearsals, and, 2. The regimental system. Battle drills and rehearsals pay off in three ways. Firstly, practice makes perfect. Everyone gets to make mistakes and learn from them without winding up dead. Secondly, morale is hugely boosted if everyone can see that their commander's plan is realistic and will actually work because it does actually work... in practice. Thirdly, when the actual battle begins, muscle memory kicks in and people will do the real thing the way that they have repeatedly rehearsed it, just because they are so used to doing things that way.

The regimental system works because people may not be willing to risk their life for their country, but they will do so for their buddy. In the video, we were shown attacking forces from the North and East as an example of combat compliance. Suppose that the soldiers in both the northern and eastern force are all in the same regiment. They grew up together in the same neighbourhood of the same city, took basic training together, were drinking buddies in the pre-war Other Ranks Mess, and will be looking each other in the eyes after the battle is over for the rest of their military career. And then for the rest of their lives in the local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion after the war is over. Now that's an incentive!

K40 592 576
Captain (retired) Kevin C. Love, CD
The Royal Regiment of Canada

[teaburg]

Was told that in Sweden the military does not yell in recruits faces anymore. They found it makes no difference. Cohesion develops naturally from the rigors of training.

[tim]

Reminds of that Band-of-Brothers episode where they scout across canal and bring back a prisoner to get intel. The Colonel loves it and orders another the next night. Captain Winters, knowing that the enemy will surely be expecting it and they would suffer high casualties for no gain, tells them to get a good nights sleep and report in the morning that they were unsuccessful.

[rogirek]

A note regarding the idea that commanders try to avoid giving orders that will not be followed:
Every time an order is not followed, it makes for a massive blow to automaticity. You have created an epistemic proof that not following an order can happen. Even if it turns out poorly, the option now forever exists in the mind.

[davidcpugh]

Did that in Vietnam. As a point man, my value depended on takin risks to spot ambushes of the 100 grunts behind me, and knowing that they would not abandon me.

I survived. With a bit of ptsd intrinsically a part of infantry in a war. After I treated it by the oldest deal in the world - a wife, kids and a good career. Slava Ukraine 🇺🇦.

[spphi]

12:16 Putin's peering through the window on the right, next to those yellow bags #wheresputin

Great and insightful video as always.

[KarmaKitten]

Brilliant! I believe I have seen it… I remember thinking “what’s that?” but I can’t off-hand remember. I always like your videos so I’ll go back and look. Your students were blessed to have you. I think your insights are spot on, but I worry sometimes that you will be kidnapped by the Russian military and forced to tell them how they can fix their obvious “snowball on a slope” dilemma. Stay safe and thank you for helping me to understand better the dynamics of the war in Ukraine!!! Looking forward to getting your book… stay safe!! 🇨🇦🫶🏻🇺🇦

[variable]

Your videos are very informative and easy to understand. Im thankful for tubers like yourself that spend so much time to produce this content. Keep on man, youre awesome.

[MPdude]

This problem is brought to light in one quest for the NCR in Fallout: New Vegas. You approach an NCR military camp and a Squad Leader approaches you about helping train her underperforming squad. As part of this mission, you talk to each squad member to discuss their problems and encourage them to do their jobs better, one member sounds an awful lot like Private Konskriptivich discussed in many videos regarding Russian army organization. He discusses that he joined the NCR to maximize his personal gain and specifically chose to be a mediocre soldier for the reasons discussed here. He states being a bad soldier will result in you being kicked out, and that being a good soldier will land you on the frontlines fighting with enemies who take no prisoners, makes slaves out of them, or tortures them to death. As a result, being Mediocre puts you in a rear echelon position that keeps you away from the fighting and keeps you on army payroll. This solider further notes that you could sneak into the HQ and falsify performance reports to give them commendations, although he notes that you will need to look for other methods if you actually intend to fix the problem. And your actions here (do nothing, falsify reports, train the squad, maybe more I missed) will bear fruit later on.
[SPOILERS AHEAD!!]







In the game ending, you will see what becomes of this squad depending on what you do. This rear echelon base is attacked by the Legion, if you train them, they will successfully repel the attack and be commended for it, failing to train them will result in their position being overrun and getting slaughtered.

[evFPV]

One of the best YT channels about the war. Thank you for your videos

[pbix]

This video is really useful for any teacher discussing WW1--or honestly any modern war--with students. It does a great job digging into the personal, psychological, and strategic aspects that lead to such bloody, seemingly suicidal tactics being adopted by militaries, which at first glance seem senseless. At the same time, having all of this tie into ongoing events greatly increases how relevant it can feel to students, and influence how they perceive either the Russia-Ukraine war or whatever future wars may occur in the future.

I see three main ways it could be utilized really well.

1) As part of an assignment early in the schoolyear, where students write a short report about the real-world importance of learning history after watching a video. In this case, this video would be only one out of several options (the rest of which aren't military related, since not everyone finds warfare particularly interesting and the point of the assignment is to get everyone invested)

2) Shown to the whole classroom as part of a unit focused on World War One. In this case, time constraints mean the teacher would probably have to edit together a stripped-down version of this video removing content that isn't as relevant. Perhaps this stripped down version only includes 0:00-0:20, 1:05-1:40, 2:18-5:20, 5:36-6:51, 7:25-8:10, 12:32-12:42, 14:03-14:46, 18:30-23:15, and 24:09-24:40, which amounts to 12 minutes and 10 seconds total.

3) Included as recommended/optional study material, either for whichever unit includes WW1, for an end-of-year unit which returns to discusses the modern day within its wider historical context, or for the final exam.

[krisfrederick]

"Ready! Fire! AIM!"

-Russian Military Doctrine

[evan]

How have I gone this long without seeing your channel, instant subscriber.

[psandrhcp]

Never been this early before. But this channel is amazing. Watching detailed history happening right in front of us and you report it insanely well.

[kamukameh]

I think a big influence is also the whole "reason" for the war: When your soldiers are not behind the mission, it probably fails. The footsoldier thinks: Why am I supposed to kill this guys on the other side.

[kevinu.k.]

Great video and explanations. Thank you.

[kirkthiets]

Subscribed. I watched your content for the first time today and I must say the depth of information is very desirable.

[hoi-polloi]

One key element that helps building automaticity is *trust* ... that is, the trust that the soldiers have that the army is going to spend their lives wisely and honorably. If that trust is there, it becomes a lot easier to do your duty knowing that higher isn't throwing you to your death. Trust also comes into play across units; if you *know* that the Northern force is going to do their part, then you and your Eastern force are a lot more likely to stick to the plan.

[ajr]

Dude you and Perun should have an in depth pod cast discussion on the war in Ukraine. I would love and pay for that

[maphezdlin]

This was the best analysis of warfare I have ever seen. I knew basic training was meant to drive out individuality but I never fully knew why. Automaticity, I have never heard of or seen this word till now. Thanks for the info.