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

Check out my book “What Caused the Russia-Ukraine War“: You can also read it for free by signing up for a Kindle Unlimited trial at (I use affiliate links, meaning I earn a commission when you make a transaction through them. Even if you read for free, you are still supporting the channel.) 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 Soldier