Vladimir Putin takes urgent action as he attempts to avoid mass protests breaking out in Russia
Vladimir Putin is eager to avoid protests on the streets
REUTERS
Vladimir Putin is set to speed up the payment of soldiers' salaries in a bid to stop protests forming on the streets of Russia.
It has been claimed that the Kremlin is looking to find ways to appears troops fighting in Ukraine along with their relatives amid growing frustration at the botched invasion.
Long deployments to the country's neighbour without rotation have angered not only those fighting on the front line but also their wives.
Earlier this month women took to the streets in Moscow to hold a rare public protest to make their feelings known the Putin about the war.
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They gathered in Teatralnya Square demanding a better rotation of troops.
Intelligence officials at the UK's Ministry of Defence said: "The apparently indefinitely extended combat deployments of personnel without rotation is increasingly seen as unsustainable by both the troops themselves and by their relatives."
Russian opposition media reports that officials in the Kremlin hope the swifter payment of soldiers' salaries will help reduce the friction.
The Kremlin is eager to avoid a repeat of the mass protests seen in previous wars when the wives and mothers of soldiers protested against the deaths of Russian men.
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Russia has suffered the loss of hundreds of thousands of soldiers during the war
REUTERS
Ukraine launched a counter-offensive earlier this year
ReutersRussian independent media outlet The Insider claimed Russian officials had been told to do whatever necessary to stop a spread of the protests which took place a few weeks ago.
One official told the outlet: "Persuade, promise, pay.
"Anything, as long as it doesn't go out onto the street, in any quantity, even 50 people."
Russia has lost hundreds of thousands of fighters since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2023.
New figures indicate that on Friday Putin suffered his worst ever day for military losses with more than 1,000 soldiers and 30 tanks killed or destroyed.
Ukrainian military experts have said Russia's old equipment is to blame for their struggles.
Ivan Stupak, a former Ukrainian Security Service officer, said: “It's really a big problem for the Russians.
"It's not just a cliché, it's not Ukrainian propaganda.
“For the last five months or so, Russia has very actively been using old-style artillery.
“Not late-Soviet era, but mid-50s and mid-60s—D30 and the D20-type of towed artillery, with a maximum range of around 9 to 11 miles.”
He said that Russia has become reliant on older machinery after running out of artillery due to the prolonged nature of the war.
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