Russian forces are killing their own wounded with drones to stop them from surrendering, Ukrainian officials say Story by sbaker@insider.com (Russian forces are killing their own wounded with drones to stop them from surrendering, Ukrainian officials say
Story by sbaker@insider.com (Sinéad Baker) • 6 December 2023
A photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service in August 2022 shows a Russian serviceman preparing a reconnaissance drone. Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP
© Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP
Russia is using drones to kill its own soldiers to stop them from surrendering, Ukraine says.
A military spokesman said there have been "cases when Russian drones have killed their own wounded."
Russia has previously been accused of using deadly force against troops retreating or surrendering.
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These are 6 of Russia's deadliest moments in the Ukraine war ©Nils Petter Nilsson/Getty Images
> Russia is believed to have lost about 300,000 soldiers during the war in Ukraine.
> Some Ukrainian strikes have been particularly deadly for Russian soldiers, killing dozens at once.
> Russia and Ukraine are both secretive about death tolls and their estimates usually widely differ.
The 20 months of war in Ukraine have been brutal and costly for both sides, particularly for invading Russian forces.
Russians typically outnumber Ukrainians on the battlefield by a ratio of almost three to one, The New York Times reported, and Ukraine has used weapons such as the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, to inflict high casualties on Russian troops.
Russia has never confirmed the numbers of its losses, but Western estimates suggest approximately 300,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded in Ukraine. Ukrainian casualties are believed to be around 200,000.
Reports say Russia has been hemorrhaging men and weapons in its most significant attack against Ukraine in recent months: Its attempt to capture Avdiivka, a strategic town in eastern Ukraine and a gateway to Russia-occupied Ukraine.
Despite high Russian losses, the country's population is about three times the size of Ukraine's — a large pool from which Russia could keep replenishing its ranks.
These are believed to be some of the deadliest single moments for Russia in the conflict so far.
Russian forces are killing their own injured soldiers to stop them from surrendering to Ukrainian troops, officials in Ukraine's defense forces and military intelligence service said.
"The fact is that the Russians do not allow their soldiers to surrender," Oleksandr Stupun, a spokesman for Ukraine's Tauride Defense Forces, said during a television interview on Monday.
"There have even been cases when Russian drones have killed their own wounded," he said, according to the Kyiv Post.
Andriy Yusov, a representative for Ukraine's military intelligence agency, the HUR, told the Kyiv Post that incidents of this kind have been recorded multiple times, including in footage captured by Ukraine's own drones.
Russia has killed its own soldiers as "a reaction to the fact that there are quite a few people willing to surrender to Ukrainian captivity," he said.
Russia has been accused of using deadly threats and tactics to stop its troops from retreating or surrendering since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A Ukrainian unit said in September that Russian troops who were surrendering were shot at and killed by their own artillery, an incident they filmed with a drone.
Western intelligence and Russian soldiers say Russia is also using barrier units: troops that stand behind other soldiers to stop them from withdrawing, including by threatening to shoot them.
Russia 'fires at at Ukrainian military positions' in Kherson
The UK Ministry of Defence said last year that Russia had started using barrier troops and that Russian generals likely wanted their soldiers to defend positions in Ukraine "to the death."
A group of Russian soldiers said earlier this year that one of the units was placed behind them and threatened to shoot them if they did not move forward.
Yusov, from Ukraine's military intelligence, also said this was happening. "Barrier units and killing their own soldiers is what the Russian army is really using against its own," he said.
Ukraine has reported many incidents of Russian soldiers surrendering to it over the course of the invasion, including soldiers who surrendered to Ukrainian drones.
Ukraine has also set up a hotline that Russian soldiers can call if they want to surrender. Ukraine said Russian soldiers are calling it and are also offering to give equipment and heavy armored vehicles to Ukraine.
Poster Comment:
It is more like 500,000 Ukrainian soldiers dead.
My buddy in Chicago told me when the Bers and Notre Dame both lose in the same weekend it's like, "Hello? Suicide hotline?" LOL