Invading Russian forces are reportedly shooting themselves in the legs to avoid fighting, using Ukrainian ammunition to make it appear as if they were hit by the defenders.
According to the latest estimate from the Ukrainian government, the Russian troops have been widely reported to be demoralized in the assault, which has already cost the lives of as many as 14,000 people.
“They’ve been shooting at us for 14 days,” one Russian stated in a chat intercepted by Belarusian media outlet NEXTA. We’re scared. We’re stealing food, breaking into houses. We’re killing civilians,” says the narrator.
He went on to say, “Russian officers shoot themselves in the legs to go home. There are corpses everywhere.”
Another soldier was overheard saying that his teammates are on the lookout for Ukrainian ammunition so that they might shoot themselves in the legs and go to the hospital.
According to accounts, deserters fear heavy punishment in the motherland, therefore using Ukrainian guns and ammo on themselves allows them to disguise their self-inflicted wounds as fighting wounds.
An intercepted audio recording of a soldier calling his mother back home claims that the disillusioned troops were utilizing 7.62mm bullets fired by their enemy rather than 5.62 rounds fired by their own AK-47 assault weapons.
On camera, captured Russian soldiers sobbed as they apologized for killing Ukrainian citizens, including children, and admitted that President Vladimir Putin’s invasion was a tragic mistake.
However, footage of seized servicemen has sparked concerns about whether Ukraine is abiding by the Geneva Conventions, which guarantee the safety of POWs.
