White House: Russia Is Executing Soldiers Who Refuse To Follow Orders

The White House said on October 26 that Russia is executing soldiers who fail to follow orders and threatening entire units with death if they retreat from Ukrainian artillery fire. It's a development that U.S. national-security officials believe reflects Russia's morale problems 20 months into its invasion of Ukraine, said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, calling the practice “reprehensible” and “barbaric." He added that he believes it is “a symptom of how poorly Russia’s military leaders know they’re doing and how bad they have handled this from a military perspective.”