Paul Goble
Staunton, July 9 – After Putin launched his expanded war in Ukraine in 2022, it quickly became obvious that a significant share of Russian soldiers were using illegal drugs (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/07/putins-war-in-ukraine-leading-to.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/08/illegal-drug-use-increasing-problem.html).
Estimates suggest that 10 to 15 percent of all Russian troops sent to Ukraine have taken such drugs and many have become dependent, especially as the Russian military hasn’t addressed the problem seriously (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/06/moscow-providing-little-help-to-russian.html).
Indeed, according to one survey of drug use in the Russian military in Ukraine, commanders there who have discovered men using drugs have often dealt with this plague simply by sending the men involved to the frontlines where they are most likely to be killed (verstka.media/kak-rossiyskie-soldaty-upotrebliayut-narkotiki-na-voyne).
Now, however, with ever more veterans returning home, some of whom have drug habits, the Russian government is discussing plans to open a few drug rehabilitation centers lest drug addiction lead to crime and other problems (sila-rf.ru/2025/07/09/v-rossii-otkryvayut-reabilitatsionnye-tsentry-dlya-zavisimyh-bojtsov-svo/).
When such centers will be opened and how many of them there will be has not yet been decided, but if only 10 percent of the 100,000 veterans who have returned so far have drug problems, the need is great even though Moscow has dragged its feet on helping veterans with PTSD and related problems (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/09/moscows-failure-to-treat-secondary.html).
Consequently, the returning veterans are likely to boost the numbers of Russians using illegal drugs and the crime, deaths, and demographic consequences the widespread use of drugs will be responsible for (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/08/70000-russians-suffered-deaths-of.html).
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