Russian troops are crashing into their own anti-tank barriers and dying, pro-Putin hardliners say

• Russian troops are crashing into anti-tank barriers in Kursk, Russia.
• Russian nationalist bloggers are blaming inept commanders for putting them in the wrong place.
• Other reports suggest they are the work of saboteurs.

Russian commanders are misplacing anti-tank barriers, which their own troops and civilians are crashing into, according to several Russian hardliners.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US think tank, cited posts by Russian nationalist bloggers on Telegram complaining of havoc on roads caused by the spiked “dragon’s teeth” anti-tank barriers in Kursk, in southern Russia.

The concrete pyramids, which stand about 4 feet tall, are meant to block and damage Ukrainian tanks and other armored vehicles.

The Russian military bloggers, who’ve long been an important source of independent information about the Russian military, complained that “dozens” of military personnel and civilians had lost their lives crashing into the barriers, according to the ISW. 

The reports suggest that there is “exceedingly poor communication between Russian field commanders, local law enforcement, and engineering troops regarding the construction of such fortifications,” said the ISW.

It said that a Russian insider source said a Russian first responder driving an evacuation car in Rylsky Raion, Kursk Oblast, crashed into a dragon’s teeth barrier in the dark, severely damaging the vehicle.

Some accounts on Telegram, according to Newsweek, said the fortifications were the work of “saboteurs,” intentionally seeking to cause chaos in Russia.

Business Insider was unable to establish who was responsible for placing the barriers.

Russian commanders have, throughout the war, faced criticism from Russia’s military bloggers for what they say are inept decisions that have hampered Russia’s campaign in Ukraine.

In the early weeks of Ukraine’s incursion, they said that Russian commanders had failed to coordinate the defensive operations of FSB units, local law enforcement, and the military, meaning Ukraine was able to exploit the confusion.

Ukrainian forces occupy around 386 square miles of territory in Kursk, while Russian forces have continued to make incremental advances in east Ukraine.

The war has been costly. In 2024, Russia’s projected loss is between $27 billion and $34 billion, according to the Atlantic Council.

Last month, Jay Zagorsky, an economist and markets professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, said that despite the costs, war may be the only thing keeping Russia’s economy afloat.

“The Russian economy right now is being propped up by large amounts of government spending, so there’s not going to be a slowdown in any sector in the economy that the Russia government is buying supplies from,” Zagorsky told BI.

“So if there was no war, oh yes, I think there’d be an immediate recession.”