Disheartened Russian troops fighting in Ukraine are reported to have used a tank to run over and kill a senior Russian commander they blame for poor decision making and for the severe losses his unit had suffered.
According to the Daily Star, a news report broadcast on Sky News said that Colonel Yuri Medvechek, commander of 37 Motor Rifle Brigade, died in hospital shortly after his own troops ran over his legs, causing fatal wounds. The bizarre incident comes among many examples of Russian invasion setbacks, and according to the Sky News source referred to as a western official, the colonel was set upon by his men as a reaction to the severe losses the unit had suffered in Ukraine.
The official said: "The brigade commander of one of the units was killed by his own troops, we believe, as a consequence of the scale of loss that had been taken by his brigade. That just gives an insight into perhaps some of the morale challenges that Russian forces are having. We believe he was killed by his own troops deliberately. Indeed, we believe he was run over by his own troops and I believe he was the commander of the 37 Motor Rifle Brigade."
Footage emerged from the incident showing the colonel being taken to hospital after suffering severe wounds to his legs. Western officials confirmed he later died from his injuries following the revolt. They also claimed that a seventh general had been killed in the conflict as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continued to derail.
Thousands of Russian troops have died since the start of the conflict on February 24. But Vladimir Putin has suppressed any broadcast announcing precise numbers of deaths of Russian soldiers. A Russian tabloid newspaper, Kosmoslyaka Pravda, recently leaked that according to the official Russian Ministry of Defence numbers, 9,861 soldiers had died, a significant difference from the figure of minor losses numbering in the hundreds as reported by the Russian president.
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