Russia’s forces are now threatening to gun down their own retreating soldiers to drive forward Moscow’s military objectives, the British defence ministry said today.
“Due to low morale and reluctance to fight, Russian forces have probably started deploying ‘barrier troops’ or ‘blocking units’,” the British MoD said in its latest intelligence update.
These units are threatening to shoot their own retreating soldiers in order to compel offensives and have been used in previous conflicts by Russian forces, the ministry added.
It added that the tactic of shooting deserters “likely attests to the low quality, low morale and indiscipline of Russian forces.”
Top Russian diplomat Andrei Kelin has warned the UK is “too deep” with its involvement in the Ukraine war and accused Britain of directing an attack on Vladimir Putin’s warships which caused Moscow significant losses in the Black Sea.
Britain’s defence ministry dismissed the allegations, saying Russia was “peddling false claims of an epic scale”.
