How We Tracked Abuses in the Russian ArmyPresident Vladimir Putin has claimed that the Russian society can tolerate the high human cost of the war in Ukraine. But we’ve analyzed more than 6,000 official complaints by soldiers and their loved ones that paint a very different picture. Our international correspondent Paul Sonne explains how the documents offer rare insight into a violent military apparatus willing to abuse its own men to keep up the assault in Ukraine. By Paul Sonne, Nikolay Nikolov, Rebecca Suner, David Jouppi, Alina Lobzina, Milana Mazaeva, Nataliya Vasilyeva, Nikita Pavlov and Arijeta LajkaDecember 31, 2025

Source: New York Times December 31, 2025 11:31 UTC