Putin's Military Has a Rat Problem

Russian President Vladimir Putin's army waging war in Ukraine has a rodent problem, according to a social media account that posts footage focusing on operations by Kyiv's forces.

"The Russian trench rat/mice issue is a fairly serious one that reportedly really went downhill over the past few weeks as cold weather set in," OSINTtechnical wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday, sharing a 19-second video that shows lots of mice scurrying around among bedding.

It isn't clear when or where the footage was filmed. Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry via email for comment.

A few hours earlier, OSINTtechnical shared an image of a dead rodent, and said Russian trenches are "apparently dealing with a slight infestation by rodents of unusual size in Donetsk Oblast."

There have been multiple reports throughout Putin's invasion of Ukraine that Russia's military has been affected by rats and mice.

The problem is not confined to the Russian trenches. Responding to OSINTtechnical's posts, Rebekah Maciorowski, an American nurse working with the Ukrainian army, wrote on X: "I mean, to be fair, they're in our trenches too. Mice aren't very picky when they're trying to escape the cold."

In February, Verstka, an independent Russian news outlet founded shortly after the conflict began, interviewed a former Russian soldier who said that he spent months living in trenches infested with mice and rats.

"I am an artilleryman, a former sergeant, and was once a division sergeant major. Thought I could be helpful. From the military registration and enlistment office I was sent to training that lasted several weeks," the serviceman said.

"They let us shoot a little, showed us how to capture buildings, how to walk in threes, how to dig trenches. All this was done in a hurry, quickly."

"At the front, I first ended up in a tent camp, but after three days it was bombed. Then we moved to the village of Taramchuk not far from Donetsk, and from that moment I spent about three months in the trenches: digging trenches, living in the trenches. In the dirt, with mice and rats," he told the publication.

The former Russian soldier claimed he and his fellow servicemen were fed once a day.

"They provided little water—700 grams per person per day. The commanders growled at us: 'Why are you unwashed and unshaven?' And we saved water. All the wells around are empty," he said.

Even back home in Russia, soldiers are not exempt from being pestered by rodents. Earlier this month, residents of a military town in Russia's Chelyabinsk region complained that officers' houses were infested with rats "the size of a cat" and cockroaches.

There have also been frequent reports of low morale in the Russian army since the war began.

On Thursday, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby accused Putin's military of executing soldiers who don't follow orders while serving in Ukraine.

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