This sounds like an inversion of the classic “USSR/Russian meatwave” meme. It’s ridiculous when people talk about it when it comes to Russians, as if they have some mythical predisposition to throwing their soldiers lives away for no gain
It is not this inversion or repeating of propaganda. There has been a long stream of news about the press gangs and there seems to currently be an inflection point of Western Europe and US media needing to acknowledge the level of violent and desperate conscriptions over the last weeks (just to concretely cite a single source rather than keep being vague and handwavey, https://eventsinukraine.substack.com/ has tracked the use of conscription press gangs as a Ukrainian journalist that had been living in Ukraine). It is not just a “Human Meatwave” type of mentality, but an acknowledgement of the reality of the tragedy of Ukraine in this whole war. It was one of only a few former Soviet Republics to not have its per-capita GDP recover to its 1991 level after shock therapy and was considered the most corrupt nation on earth until the war motivated western sources to fake the numbers. The economic out-migration caused Ukraine to be in a deep demographic crisis before the war even started. The reason for the press gangs and very violent conscription is because of the population and manpower difference. Russia can throw away an equal amount of lives to Ukraine while only maintaining limited conscription, but Ukraine has to try to get as many able bodied men as it can.
The description came down to the ultra-nationalist/neo-nazi groups vs the conscripts. Because they are motivated by nationalism and views of racial supremacy, the neo-nazi groups have higher morale and are more dedicated than the conscripts pulled off the streets. This means that the conscripts are used in the high risk or earlier waves of any operation, since the neo-nazi groups are more valuable units due to their higher levels of training and esprit de corps.
It is not this inversion or repeating of propaganda. There has been a long stream of news about the press gangs and there seems to currently be an inflection point of Western Europe and US media needing to acknowledge the level of violent and desperate conscriptions over the last weeks (just to concretely cite a single source rather than keep being vague and handwavey, https://eventsinukraine.substack.com/ has tracked the use of conscription press gangs as a Ukrainian journalist that had been living in Ukraine). It is not just a “Human Meatwave” type of mentality, but an acknowledgement of the reality of the tragedy of Ukraine in this whole war. It was one of only a few former Soviet Republics to not have its per-capita GDP recover to its 1991 level after shock therapy and was considered the most corrupt nation on earth until the war motivated western sources to fake the numbers. The economic out-migration caused Ukraine to be in a deep demographic crisis before the war even started. The reason for the press gangs and very violent conscription is because of the population and manpower difference. Russia can throw away an equal amount of lives to Ukraine while only maintaining limited conscription, but Ukraine has to try to get as many able bodied men as it can.
The description came down to the ultra-nationalist/neo-nazi groups vs the conscripts. Because they are motivated by nationalism and views of racial supremacy, the neo-nazi groups have higher morale and are more dedicated than the conscripts pulled off the streets. This means that the conscripts are used in the high risk or earlier waves of any operation, since the neo-nazi groups are more valuable units due to their higher levels of training and esprit de corps.