Intercepted calls released by Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) suggest a Russian commander losing his temper and ordering his soldiers to shoot at their own comrades in a neighbouring unit.
"F**k the 55th (an adjacent Russian unit), shoot them, that’s the battalion commander’s order, shoot them," a Russian commander can be heard saying in an audio published by HUR on April 5.
The unidentified Russian commander appears frustrated at the adjacent Russian unit for not properly following an order and revealing their positions to Ukrainian troops.
The Kyiv Independent couldn't independently verify the authenticity of the audio published by HUR.
Much remains unknown about the scale of such incidents in the Russian military, which has relied on its vast manpower to gradually gain ground across Ukraine's front.
Despite the heavy losses, they have managed to capture some of Ukraine's last strongholds in the Donbas region in the second half of 2024.
Multiple incidents of "friendly fire" in the Russian army have been reported.
In December, HUR claimed that North Korean troops fighting alongside Moscow opened fire and killed eight Russian servicemen.
Dominic Culverwell
Intercepted calls published by HUR last month suggested Russians living in oblasts bordering Ukraine celebrated recent drone attacks against Moscow as people living there "live their lives without fear."
On March 11, Ukraine launched the largest drone attack against Russia's capital during the full-scale war. Seventy-four drones were shot down on approach to Moscow in the early hours of the day.
Belgorod and Bryansk oblasts border Ukraine and often come under attack as they are two regions from which Russian forces launch missile and drone attacks against Ukrainian cities.
Phone conversations intercepted by HUR suggest that some Russians living in these oblasts welcomed the news of the attack on Moscow. They presented it as a chance for those living in the capital to experience the effects of the war that they witness on a regular basis.
"So we can be f**king bombed, but Moscow Oblast is not? Let the bastards shut up and stay put!" one woman in Russia’s Bryansk Oblast said in a call released by HUR on March 29.
"They live their lives without fear, without knowing anything. Let them be at least a little bit afraid," the person she was speaking to responded.
Francis Farrell
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