Invading Russian troops are allegedly shooting themselves in the legs to avoid combat – using Ukrainian ammo to make it look they were shot by defenders.
The Russian forces have been widely reported to be disheartened in the invasion, which has already taken up to 14,000 lives.
“They’ve been firing at us for 14 days,” one Russian soldier claimed in a chat intercepted by NEXTA. We fear. We steal food and break into homes. It says we’re murdering people.
“Russian officers self-destruct to return home. “There are dead everywhere,” he said.
In another soldier’s words, “searching for Ukrainian ammo to shoot themselves in the legs and go to the hospital.”
Deserters in the homeland risk heavy punishment, therefore using Ukrainian guns and ammunition on themselves helps them to disguise their wounds as war wounds.
According to a soldier who contacted his mother back home, the disillusioned soldiers were employing 7.62 mm enemy bullets rather than 5.62 rounds from their own AK-47 assault rifles, the Mirror claimed.
Captured Russian troops sobbed as they apologised for murdering Ukrainian citizens, including children, and said President Vladimir Putin’s invasion was a “grave mistake.”
However, the video of seized servicemen has prompted concerns about Ukraine’s compliance with the Geneva Conventions, which protect POWs.
