An ex-US Army general who witnessed Russia's basic training of recruits says it was awful, and the 'newbies' being drafted face disaster on the front line

Russia's announcement of 300,000 reservists was a sign of weakness according to a former US army general.

The Russian army is poorly led and poorly trained according to Mark Hertling, who commanded the US Army Europe.

He said that poor training and the decision to draft in recruits with little experience would spell disaster for Russia.

It will be difficult to mobilize 300kservists after failing with rag-tag militias.

A front line that has been mauled has low morale and who don't want to be portending more Russian disasters.

Russian officials stated on Wednesday that 300,000 reserve soldiers will be drafted immediately.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that only those with combat experience would be called up.

There have been reports of Russians trying to flee to avoid deployment and plane tickets out of country selling out.

A 63-year-old man with diabetes was one of the recruits being drafted this week, according to Insider.

Horrible leadership by "drill sergeants"

During two trips to Russia, Hertling found the army's training to be terrible.

He compared Russia's army training with the US', which usually involves new soldiers getting 10 weeks of basic training across several sites from very professional drill sergeants, and many going on to get more specialized training.

Six months into the invasion of Ukraine, the Moscow Times reported that soldiers were being sent to the front line without basic training.

The director of Citizen is Sergei Krivenko. The army is made up of military personnel. Law told the outlet that he had been approached by parents who had their children sign a military contract and end up in Ukranian.

One Russian soldier said he only received five days of training before he was sent to battle.

Russian army training faced many issues, including "horrible leadership by drill sergeants," according to Hertling.

He said that officers told him their force was a one year one, with some, often the poor, volunteering or being elected for leadership positions.

Since receiving training from US personnel in both individual and unit training techniques, Hertling said that the Ukrainian army is more closely following the US model.

According to Hertling, the issue of Russian army training starts in basic training and doesn't get better during time in uniform.