Travel Requirements Prompt Further Ukraine Invasion Delays
Moscow, Russia – Leaked internal documents revealed the Russian invasion of Ukraine would be further delayed because only 30% of Russian troops stationed on the Russia-Ukraine frontier have completed their mandatory travel requirements. Further complicating matters, the Russian Travel Ministry has approved only 33,453 out of 175,000 mandatory COVID-19 PCS waivers.
Call transcripts revealed an increased frustration at the top levels of the Russian military.
“We mustered 175,000 Russian troops at the beginning of December, ready to go, only to be told 3 hours before the official launch time that so few completed their required travel precepts,” said Defense Minister Anton Turgenev.
An unidentified member of the Travel Ministry responded that the contractor responsible for processing the requests went on leave December 7th and is not scheduled to return until the end of January.
The travel requirements revolve around several computer-based training modules known as Russian Knowledge Online (RKO). These trainings include, ‘Installing a Puppet Government in a Former Soviet State 3.0 (Advanced)’, ‘Violating Territorial Sovereignty 1.2A (Basic)’ and surprisingly ‘DoD Cyber Awareness Challenge’. Most Russian ground forces completed older versions of the training but failed to print their certificates of completion on time. An updated version of the training rendered those certifications invalid. A large portion of troops also reported the new versions of the training are incompatible with their current internet browsers.
This is not the first time the Russian Army struggled with travel requirements. An internal investigation into the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan revealed that of the more than 14,000 Soviet troops killed in Afghanistan, only 7 were authorized to travel there.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined not to make the same mistake as former Soviet leaders. He demands a 110% travel requirement completion rate before the invasion can proceed.