Under stress of war, gambling grips Ukrainian soldiers

YIV, Apr 24 (AFP): Last month Pavlo Petrychenko, a junior sergeant in the Ukrainian army, issued a stark warning to President Volodymyr Zelensky about a dangerous vice sweeping the military.

A surge in online gambling among serving soldiers has seen many lose their entire salaries, he said, pushing them and their families into debt.

Some were even selling off army drones and thermal imaging cameras to feed addictions, compromising their own safety for a long-shot chance to strike it rich.

Exhausted by more than two years of war, campaigners say online gambling is rife in the Ukrainian armed forces, a coping mechanism and dopamine hit for fighters under constant fire and far from home, their families and loved ones.

Ukraine ping

OH: [are holding back

lol 😂]

Don’t take my word for it. Ukraine’s draft age is 25 and up.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/11/ukraine-mobilization-law-russia-war/
[Last week, Zelensky signed a law lowering the draft age to 25 from 27]

Whereas the US draft age bracket is now 18-25.

https://www.sss.gov/register/who-needs-to-register/
[Almost all male US citizens and male immigrants, who are 18 through 25, are required to register with Selective Service.]

For whatever reason, Ukraine’s pols have decided to spare their under-25s the rigors of an otherwise universal draft.

Ukraine ping

Sauron: [We can have 18 year old privates as long as they have 25 year old sergeants providing mature judgement, something teens lack.

How is Ukraine’s experienced NCO corps holding up?]

With these things, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. In a recent article, at one point in the line, what the Ukrainians call a brigade, basically a reinforced battalion of 2,000 men, was holding back a Russian division 6 to 12 times its size, despite Russia’s 10 to 1 howitzer shell advantage. That the Ukrainian line did not pull back a dozen miles is testament to a blend of something that’s preventing superior Russian numbers, firepower and close air support from gaining more than incremental ground. Whether grit, creativity or sheer luck, it held in the face of ammo starvation.

Whatever the reason, it suggests that man for man, the Ukrainian soldier is more than a match for several of his Russian counterparts. The problem is Biden’s deliberate starvation of Ukrainian equipment and ammo flows. Until he stops the micromanagement, Ukraine’s road will not be an easy one. The US gave Russia as much as 6% of 1941’s economic output (also 6x the 1% pre-WW2 US military budget). It is giving Ukraine 0.2% of 2024’s economic output, or 1/30 what it gave Russia in WW2. That difference, combined with Biden’s deliberate dispatch of mostly junkyard grade equipment and light over heavy weaponry, is why the Ukrainian recovery of its prewar territory isn’t a sure thing.

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