Russian commanders are killing their young soldiers instead of taking them for treatment, a testament to the growing barbarism among Vladimir Putin’s military.
In the horrific video, servicemen captured by Ukrainian forces recall how a soldier who had difficulty walking was shot in the head by a battalion commander.
The lieutenant colonel was accused of killing “four or five” wounded soldiers in the same ruthless way.
“Everyone was young,” one of the Russian prisoners told Ukrainian journalist Volodymyr Zolkin.
Another prisoner says: “It was possible to save, help, take out of there. He just shot them. “
Russian troops are resorting to increasingly desperate measures when they are under pressure to attack major Ukrainian cities.
The Ukrainians managed to repel the onslaught – and on Saturday the soldiers declared victory in the city of Kharkov, when Russian troops pushed all the way to the national border.
The UK Department of Defense estimates that the Russians have so far lost one-third of the ground forces involved in the invasion and have failed to make significant progress in the last month, inflicting heavy losses.
According to Ukrainian authorities, at least 27,700 Russian servicemen have been killed since February, although the true figure is difficult to determine. In a video of the Russian military recorded for Open Media Ukraine, one prisoner of war said that the commanders “finished off their wounded.”
Asked what he meant, he added: “Like … a wounded soldier is lying on the ground and a battalion commander is shooting him with a machine gun.”
Describing one case, he said: “It was a young man, he was injured. He was on earth. He was asked if he could walk (he said no), so he was shot. “
Moscow has already been accused of brazenly ignoring the well-being of its own troops amid allegations that car-burning incinerators called “mobile crematoria” are used to burn the dead.
The Russian military is also accused of using incinerators to dispose of killed Ukrainian civilians from besieged cities, including Mariupol.
On Monday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said an agreement had been reached on the safe removal of wounded Ukrainian resistance fighters hiding at the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol.
Hundreds of servicemen and mercenaries remain trapped by the metallurgical plant after refusing to surrender, despite Vladimir Putin declaring victory over the city last month. In the east of the country, troops defending Kharkiv, its second largest city, recorded a video Saturday declaring victory after pushing Russian soldiers to the border.
The battalion recorded a message to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on the replacement of the territorial sign on the border, painted in the color of the Ukrainian flag.
“Mr. President, we have arrived, we are on the border,” said the commander.
However, at least ten civilians were killed in Russian shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk.
And on Monday, the British Ministry of Defense warned that Belarus is deploying forces along the border with Ukraine.
https://thewest.com.au/news/conflict/ukraine-crisis-russian-commanders-kill-their-own-wounded-troops–c-6823128
