Russian Troops Surrendering in 'Whole Groups’ Because of ‘Inhumane Commanders’

“Entire groups” of Russian soldiers are surrendering en-masse due to the “inhuman attitude” of their commanders, the Ukrainian military has said.

According to Oleksandr Shtupun, the spokesman for the Tavria Grouping of Troops, more and more of Moscow’s troops are also snubbing orders to assault Ukrainian positions.

Speaking on national TV, he said: “It should be noted that whole groups of Russian soldiers are seen surrendering.

“One of the reasons that the enemy does this is what I’d say is inhuman attitude on the part of their command.

“For refusing to deploy on pointless assaults or for other offenses, some officers would strip them naked in winter cold and hold them in cold pits, beating them and threatening them with execution.”

There is plenty of evidence to support Shtupun’s claim – last month a video emerged showing Russian soldiers being beaten and forced to dig holes in which they were made to stand for hours.

The video – posted online by the Russian anti-corruption group Gulagu.net – shows a number of men cowering on the ground as they’re beaten by sticks.

Later in the footage, another solider repeatedly fires a gun just inches from a soldier’s head, narrowly missing him.

And just yesterday a video emerged of a group of Russian soldiers in an expletive-laden video expressing their outrage at learning they will not be territorial defense soldiers as they thought, but would be assault troops sent to the front with no training.

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The industrial city, which had an estimated pre-war population of more than 700,000 people, lies around 35 kilometres from the nearest Russian positions.

Recorded at an unknown location, a group of men can be seen chanting “f**king commanders.”

The camera then pans to one soldier who launches into a furious tirade. “Check this out,” he says.

“We’ve been here since the 26th, f**king officers have been f**king lying to our faces that we are territorial defense.

“And now the lieutenant colonel came out and said it’s the first time he’s heard that, and it turns out we are a rifle unit.

“We are f**king assault troops, we are not territorial defense and they just tell us now!”