How Russia's military uses volunteer fighters to plug gaps in Ukraine

BARS units were useful in plugging gaps in Russian manpower, said Nick Reynolds, Research Fellow in Land Warfare at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a UK-based defence think tank. "With the Russian state clearly mobilizing for a longer conflict, a system such as BARS does provide an additional avenue from which to mobilize parts of the population, get them trained and provide additional mass," said Reynolds, who reviewed the bodycam footage. He said the group shown in the video appeared "not particularly professional or well trained."