Russian soldiers in Kharkiv region couldn’t immediately launch drones during Ukrainian counter-offensive because of a software installation

• A new Reuters investigation highlights the dysfunction in Russia’s military occupation of Kharkiv.

• Notes from soldiers to superiors show them begging for non-military-grade drones.

• Once received, the drones were not ready to be used because they needed the right software first.

A Russian battalion in Balakliia, Kharkiv, sent pleas for more drones in late July as Ukraine ramped up its eastern counter-offensive supported by American weaponry, and some troops were ultimately held back by a software installation, according to a new investigation by Reuters.

A trove of thousands of military documents left behind by the defeated Russian forces in Kharkiv, who retreated in mid-September, and obtained by Reuters illuminated their brief regime of torture and later, failing aerial capabilities.

The troops asked their superiors in Russia…