White House says Russian army executes soldiers who retreat or refuse to follow orders

U.S. National Security spokesman John Kirby reported that the Russian army executes soldiers who refuse to carry out orders, according to a statement by the White House press service.

“We have information that the Russian military has been actually executing soldiers who refuse to follow orders. We also have information that Russian commanders are threatening to execute entire units if they seek to retreat from Ukrainian artillery fire,” reported Kirby, calling this “barbaric.”

“I think it’s a symptom of — of how poorly Russia’s military leaders know they’re doing and how bad they have handled this from a military perspective,” he added.

According to Kirby, Russians who were mobilized for the war are inadequately trained, poorly equipped, and unprepared for combat. “It is unsurprising that Russian forces are suffering from poor morale given all these conditions,” Kirby stated.

Neither the Kremlin, nor Russia’s Defense Ministry have commented on Kirby’s statements.