The UK intelligence officials said that Russia is sending a ragtag group of soldiers to fight in Ukraine because of significant resourcing problems.
An update published Wednesday said that relying on irregular forces was making it harder for Russia to attack Ukraine.
The officials said that the Kremlin was forced to look for other soldiers because of its losses in Mariupol.
The Chechen forces loyal to Ramzan Kadyrov were among those being deployed.
—Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) May 18, 2022
Kadyrov is a Putin loyalist whose personal militia is widely reported to have been fighting in support of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
As well as Kadyrov, who likely maintains close personal oversight of the deployment, his cousin Adam Delimkhanov has likely acted as the Chechen field commander in Mariupol.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, Kadryov's forces were heavily involved in the invasion, and were involved in a number of crimes.
Last month, Ukraine claimed that Kadyrov promised to help with assassination attempts against Zelenskyy during a meeting with Putin.
In April, Kadyrov claimed that Mariupol would fall before or after lunch. It took nearly a month longer.
In Wednesday's update, the MoD said that individual volunteers and National Guard units were also part of Russia's forces, which contributed to its relative lack of success in its incursion.
The combat deployment of such disparate personnel demonstrates Russia's significant resourcing problems in Ukraine and is likely contributing to a disunited command which continues to hamper Russia's operations.
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