Russia to punish soldiers using personal phones on the frontline in Ukraine

Russia’s parliament has adopted an ammendment to allow military commanders to punish soldiers for using their personal phones and navigation devices on the frontline.

The law states any possession of a device that allows military personnel to store or send video, photos or geolocation data on the internet is punishable by up to 15 days imprisonment.

It also disallows the transmission of any information that could be used to identify any Russian troops or their location.

“The bill is aimed at ensuring the safety of military personnel and units,” Andrei Kartapolov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee, told Russian news agency Interfax.

Many Russian politicians strongly opposed the bill, calling for officials to allow frontline Russian commanders inform military policy.

Ultranationalist bloggers and commentators also criticised the amendment, and expressed concerns that military officials intend to use punishments to settle personal conflicts and censor legitimate complaints from Russian soldiers, who often use their phones to record complaints.

Russian forces often use unsecure personal devices organise command and control, logistics, and combat operations, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

It remains unclear how closely observed and enforced the law will be given the dependence on unsecure personal devices for many frontline tasks.

Russian blogger Yegor Guzenko, also known as the Thirteenth, said in a Telegram post that the entire army relies on internet devices.

“But how can office rats understand and know this? Let’s let these scumbags of the Duma go to war themselves,” he said.

This comes as Russia continue to haemorrhage soldiers on the front line.

Russia's military has now sustained an estimated 550,000 casualties since its invasion of Ukraine, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the UK chief of the defense staff said.

"Our assessments are that it will take Putin five years to reconstitute the Russian army to where it was in February 2022," he told the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) land warfare conference.

He added it will take another five years "rectify the weaknesses that the war has revealed”, and get Moscow's army back to its February 2022 strength.

However, Ukrainian commander-in-chief Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said Russia has significantly increased its manpower and material commitments to the war in Ukraine since February 2022 and suffered “significant manpower losses”.

Active fighting is ongoing along 977km of the 3,700-km-long frontline, and General Syrskyi told The Guardian as he said Russia’s military command continues to pursue tactical gains regardless of the losses involved.

On the other side, Ukrainian forces are attempting to safeguard the lives of Ukrainian troops, he said.

The ISW said the army chief’s statement is “not indicative of a sudden increase in the Russian military’s presence in Ukraine and is instead representative of the manpower and material disadvantage that Ukrainian forces have faced for over two years”.

It added: “Russia’s ability to continue gradually expanding the amount of manpower and materiel it has committed to Ukraine faces significant constraints in the medium to long term.”