The United States of America has evidence that Russian commanders are executing their soldiers who do not want to go on the offensive, retreat or refuse to obey orders. This was announced by the White House Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby at a briefing, as quoted by the US presidential administration.

"In an effort to achieve tactical success in Avdiivka and elsewhere on the battlefield, Russia continues to disregard the lives of its soldiers. We believe they have suffered thousands of casualties in their efforts to conduct this offensive, some of them on the orders of their leaders," the White House spokesman said.

Kirby claims that the United States has information that the Russian military is actually executing soldiers who refuse to obey orders: "We also have information that Russian commanders are threatening to execute entire units if they try to retreat under Ukrainian artillery fire."

When asked by journalists how long the executions of Russian soldiers have been going on and what they look like, how many people have been killed and how, Kirby could not answer.

He also claims that Russia cannot feed its soldiers: "From the beginning, we've been talking about poor command and control, poor logistics and support. They can't feed their guys in the field, damn it! And now, again, they're ready to shoot them for following orders, for not following orders."

According to Kirby, this also shows desperation over the lack of personnel. He acknowledged that "Russia has a bigger army than Ukraine, and they have access to more manpower to man it."

"But they are so desperate for progress - especially in the Donbas, in the Donetsk region - that they are literally throwing young men into battle who have not been properly trained, have not been properly equipped and certainly have not been properly managed," Kirby said.