Vladimir Putin is confronting a significant mutiny amongst his frontline forces in Ukraine, with reports of drunken commanders and officers pleading to be removed from combat zones. The crisis of discipline is unfolding around the strategic hub of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, coinciding with a major Ukrainian drone and missile campaign deep inside Russian territory on Orthodox Christmas Eve.
Frontline Mutiny and Demoralised Officers
According to intelligence from the pro-Ukrainian Russian partisan group ATESH, officers serving on the Pokrovsk front are pleading for reassignment to rear areas to avoid almost certain death. The mass dissent is reportedly centred on the 39th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, a key mechanised infantry unit. This comes despite Putin's false claim last month that the area had been "liberated".
ATESH states that the high command is attempting to maintain control through threats of disciplinary action, demotion, and career sabotage. Officers are being harshly reprimanded for positions lost by their subordinates and are forced to sign documents falsely reporting a "stable situation". The group describes the officers as "completely demotivated" and living in constant fear of strikes from anti-tank missiles and guerrilla actions, exacerbated by local residents passing their location data to Ukrainian forces.
The 'Alcohol Battalion' of Zaporizhzhia
Separate reports from the occupied Zaporizhzhia region paint a picture of even more severe breakdowns in discipline. The 74th Motor Rifle Regiment is said to be suffering what are described as "catastrophic losses" due to commanders who are consistently drunk on duty.
Troops have informed ATESH that orders are frequently given "in a state of severe alcohol intoxication", with no understanding of the real battlefield situation. This has allegedly led to the unit's highest casualty rates since the war began. In this so-called 'alcohol-battalion', losses are estimated at up to 100 personnel killed and wounded per month—a figure significantly higher than in other comparable units.
"The fate of the battalion depends not on tactics and the enemy, but on how much the commanders have drunk today," the ATESH report starkly concluded.
Wider Strikes and Putin's Isolation
This internal turmoil for the Kremlin coincides with a challenging period on multiple fronts. Ukraine launched a series of long-range strikes on 6 January 2026, targeting sites hundreds of miles from the border. These included hits on the Usman oil facility in Lipetsk and the Penza Bearing Plant, a military vehicle producer roughly 930 miles from Ukraine. A downed drone also struck a residential tower in Tver, killing one and injuring two.
Simultaneously, Putin is reeling from geopolitical setbacks, including the US arrest of his close ally Nicolás Maduro and major unrest in Iran, a key collaborator. He has also faced a New Year demand from Donald Trump to stop the killing and US censure over his "fake" claim that Ukraine sought to assassinate him.
Putin's determination to continue the war was underscored by a Russian strike on a US-owned vegetable oil plant in Dnipro, which belongs to Bunge Global SA, based in Missouri. The attack spilled 300 tonnes of oil, according to Mayor Borys Filatov.
As Putin prepared for a rare public appearance at a midnight Orthodox Christmas service, the combined pressure of frontline mutiny, deep Ukrainian strikes, and international isolation presents one of the most severe tests to his war effort to date.
