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As I've suggested for awhile, there is a worsening of the Russian KIA vs. WIA ratio, due to a lack & systemic breakdown of medical evac, the people and armored vehicles required to do it, wounded not being sent to hospitals, as they go AWOL, used instead in wave assaults, increasing drones w/ multiple strikes on target, etc.
Telenko puts the current KIA vs. WIA ratio as MUCH worse than WW1 levels, with herds of PIGS having learned, Pavlovian-style, that if they hear FPVs, that means food.
Is that a decision on the Russian side or does the nature of the war not permit medevac?
I think it's the (fear of) drones. Most russian troops don't have any effective detection or countermeasures against them. Artillery hits are often followed up by drone attacks and Ukrainian infantry also heavily relies on reconnaissance and support from drones.
There are so many videos from the early stages of the war starting with a single russian soldier getting wounded by artillery, a drone grenade, mine or sniper. Attempts to rescue them then lead to more and more drone casualties. Getting stuck in this situation then makes it a matter of time before artillery, more drones, or Ukrainian ground troops show up to finish the job.
The result are panicked retreats where everyone tries to save themselves. The general lack of training and resources probably doesn't help either.
Anecdotal, but I have seen videos of Ukrainian soldiers evacuating their wounded and even Russian POWs while under active shelling. In one helmet cam video they entered a burning and partially collapsed building under artillery fire to dig a squad member out from under the rubble.
On the other hand, I've seen more than one instance of Russians throwing their own wounded out of moving vehicles to go faster or just straight up shooting each other after an injury.
It essentially boils down to the motivations and relationships within UA's and RU's armies and not to the nature of this war.
I did see more videos of Russians carrying litters in the early stages of the war. Unfortunately that video was recorded from a dropper drone so...
And also the fpv threat is so huge on the front line that nearly every Russian I've seen try to render aid gets hit by a followup drone. And that's to say nothing about evac logistics.
Seems deliberate. Russia does not value soldier's lives. As the OP said, they had better WIA evac in friggin' WW1! Certainly, if it was just the nature of the war, Ukraine would be sporting similar numbers.
Orcs cost rubles, the dead cost nothing.
Just because a soldier ist dead, does not mean he does not recieve pay....