Defence procurement bungles and wins

[DJC]

35% of the Russian army are conscripts 18-27 year olds forced into national service for 1 year, Putin's elite national guard, elite paratroops, navy seals etc have not entered the fray. Putin has even been sending 60 year olds into battle armed with old rifles from WW2.
Don't think you will find too many genuine volunteers given the Spetsnaz and Rosgvardiya commanders don't want to be involved and have told Putin they will be staying home.
My son in law is Ukranian and his family back home say there are Russians fleeing from death squads who are shooting deserters.

As Mav posted, Spetsnaz units were part of the initial assaults, as is their role.  Some Spetsnaz units perform the same roles as US Navy SEALs, our clearance divers, etc and they would have carried out the coup de main attacks on Ukrainian ports and naval bases.

The death of Colonel Sergei Sukharev has received extensive coverage in Russia.  He was the CO of the elite 331st Parachute Assault Regiment of the Kostroma Guards.  Mark Urban, who is a widely published author of military history works, details Sukharev's death, its impacts, and Ukrainian tactics employed to defeat Russian airborne forces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chwUmbOTjPU

Then there's Colonel Yury Medvedev who was killed by his own troops after half of the unit became casualties.  Col Medvedev is  thought to have commanded Russia’s 37th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.

The idea that Putin has deployed 'cannon fodder' to Ukraine and will follow up with 'elite' units is spin.  They have committed their best troops but many of them are poorly trained three-year 'volunteers' with low morale and a history of refusing to follow orders.  Conscripts have even less training and most are restricted to logistics tasks and logistics has been one of the Russians' biggest fails.