Things are not looking good for the Russians in Donbas. The Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine have been slow-moving the past few weeks trying to accomplish their goal of completely “liberating” the Donbas region. However, several reports have surfaced that Russian soldiers refuse to obey orders, signaling that morale issues still plague the Russian invasion forces.

“We still see anecdotal reports of poor morale of troops, indeed officers, refusing to obey orders and move and not really sound command and control from a leadership perspective,” an unnamed senior defense official said.

This official claimed that the refusal to follow orders was widespread among various levels of the military. These soldiers were from the “midgrade officers” and even up to the “battalion level.” Some would outright refuse the order or would execute the order, albeit at a reluctant pace without any urgency.

As a result, the invasion of Donbas has largely stalled once again, making small to little successes along the way. In fact, the Ukrainians are actually launching counterattacks against the Russian forces but have had mixed results. In places such as Kherson, a city that has been under Russian control since the start of the invasion, counterattacks have been largely unsuccessful.