This is the moment the Russian army bombed its own soldiers with a drone as they tried to surrender to Ukraine.
Heartbreaking footage shows a raiding party of seven clearly with their hands raised as they emerge from the cover of foliage before lying face down on the ground.
They had advanced towards territory controlled by the Ukrainian army on the Donetsk front line, but decided to give up when they found themselves cornered.
But it appears that Putin’s commanders were unwilling to allow soldiers, who might have been forcibly recruited to fight, to enter Ukrainian territory in search of safety.
The distressing video, which has been released by the Ukrainian military, then shows a kamikaze drone exploding, killing all but one of the men who is seen running for his life.
Heartbreaking footage shows a raiding party of seven clearly with their hands up as they emerge from the cover of foliage.
The soldiers had advanced towards territory controlled by the Ukrainian army on the Donetsk front, but decided to give up when they found themselves cornered.
The soldiers were then seen lying face down on the ground.
The harrowing video then shows a kamikaze drone exploding, killing all but one of the men running for their lives.
It is unclear whether the bombing was deliberate, but the alleged war crime could be seen as an escalation of recent reports that Russian snipers have been shooting defecting soldiers.
In the video, the commander of the Ukrainian drone told the UAV pilot: “Don’t throw, don’t throw.” This was an instruction not to throw bombs at them.
“You will catch up with them and drive them south,” they ordered.
Then the Ukrainian drone began to direct them towards the positions of the 33rd kyiv Separate Mechanized Brigade.
It was at this point that the Russian kamikaze drone attacked and began bombing the surrendering Russian soldiers.
Such an action is considered a war crime since when soldiers surrender they are protected by the Geneva Conventions.
The attack appears to have been carried out by a Russian kamikaze drone
In the images, a man is seen running in front of the drone attack and manages to escape the ambush on his own side.
In the footage, a man is seen running ahead of the drone attack and manages to escape the ambush on his own side.
The brigade indicated that of the seven who surrendered, he was not the only one who fled.
Explaining the footage, the brigade said: “The Russian visitors made the right decision: to surrender.” Seven of them emerged from the grove (but there was) a trap.’
They added sarcastically: ‘As soon as the pilots (of our drones) began to retreat with the captives, the Russian army carried out a brave bombing raid…
‘They shot down several (men) with precision, not all of them arrived safely into the hands of our brigade…’
The release of the images comes after a frontline soldier, known only as ‘Viktor’, said morale among Russian troops has fallen to an all-time low and he is not alone in his feelings.
Russian reservists recruited during partial mobilization attend a ceremony before departure to military bases, in Sevastopol, Crimea, on September 27, 2022.
Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin issued Order No. 227 during World War II, known for his famous phrase: “Not a step back!”
His thoughts were conveyed in an intercepted message provided to I Want To Live, a project created in 2022 by Ukrainian military intelligence, which helps Russian soldiers surrender safely. kyiv Post reported this week.
He also said commanders were known to abandon their units without food, water or means of communication.
In a message to his wife, Viktor wrote: “Today someone tried to leave and they shot him dead.
‘A sniper is watching from the corner. There is no way to get through.
“The commanders retreated, so survive as you can… There’s nothing good here, I wish they’d kill me sooner, it’s all screwed up.”
He added that some soldiers have thought about blowing themselves up with grenades to be taken off the battlefield and recover in the hospital, but – having anticipated this – Russian military commanders are no longer evacuating the wounded.
In a previously intercepted call, a Russian commander was said to have threatened soldiers and their comrades with death if they refused to participate in an assault on the Kharkiv region.
Since the first months of the invasion, which began in February 2022, reports have circulated that Russian snipers are turning on their own troops.
Nine months into the conflict, UK government defense chiefs revealed that Putin would deploy special units to fire on his own army if they pulled out of the war in Ukraine.
The British Ministry of Defense said Russia would deploy so-called “blocking units” that “threaten to shoot their own retreating soldiers to force offensives.”
Stalin similarly used “barrier troops” in World War II as part of his “Let no one turn back” order.
Last June, shocking images emerged of Russian “barrier troops” appearing to shoot at their fellow soldiers as they tried to flee the battlefield.
Captured by a Ukrainian drone and posted on the online messaging platform Telegram, the images show three Russian soldiers pointing guns in the direction of at least seven comrades and apparently firing.
The latest revelations about the state of morale among Russian soldiers come as military experts estimate that some 600,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded during the invasion of Ukraine.
Military experts estimate that Putin’s war has killed or wounded some 600,000 Russian soldiers.
A shocking video released in June 2023 showed Russian barrier troops appearing to shoot at their fellow soldiers as they tried to flee the battlefield.
Ukrainian Emergency Service workers clear debris after Russia attacked the city with guided bombs overnight in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Sunday, September 29.
In addition to this, more than 35,000 civilians have been killed or injured, six million have been forced to flee and almost 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported.
Russian forces have made slow progress on the battlefield this year, but progress has been costly.
The UK Ministry of Defense estimates that more than 1,000 Russian soldiers are killed or injured every day.
Closing his visit to the United States, Zelensky issued a statement on Saturday thanking US President Joe Biden for the latest $8 billion military aid package and the US Congress for its “unwavering” support.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned European countries against seeking confrontation with Moscow in a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York.
Western countries “hope to defeat Russia using the illegitimate neo-Nazi regime in kyiv, but they are already preparing Europe for it too to embark on this suicidal escapade,” he said.
“I am not going to talk here about the folly and danger of the very idea of trying to fight to victory with a nuclear power.”