Fighters from the Russian republic of Chechnya who have been recruited to fight in the war in Ukraine have been making videos of their attempts to look courageous and mighty in the war. But the videos appear to be staged, according to outtakes Ukrainian intelligence officials have obtained from one of the fighters.
The outtakes show multiple fighters appearing to giggle while handling and firing weapons into a forest of trees, according to footage Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said it obtained from one of the fighters’ phones. According to the SBU, the fighters were staging fights, and not actually firing at anybody.
Turns out, “after all, instead of fighting with Ukrainian defenders, these ‘Putinians’ are heroically fighting with… pines in the forests of Luhansk region,” the SBU said in a statement mocking the videos.
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Other videos show the alleged Chechen fighters dancing around outside their vehicles while firing other weapons.
It’s just the latest update from Ukraine that appears to show Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces flagging. For months now, reports have bubbled up that Russia has been losing so many troops in the war due to a number of military planning and logistics failures that it has needed to search for alternative sources of manpower, including by forcing Chechen people to head to Ukraine.
People in the Russian republic of Chechnya have recently started claiming they are being forced to fight in Ukraine against their will, under threats from local authorities that they will face criminal charges if they don’t cooperate, according to reports from several human rights organizations.
According to U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, the Russians have resorted to employing Russian-backed mercenaries from the private contractor known as the Wagner Group as well.
And just in the last week, Ukrainian fighters effectively destroyed a unit of Wagner Group fighters, save for some survivors, according to the SBU.
Overall, the Russian military has lost 30,500 troops since Putin launched the war in February, nearly 100 days ago, according to the general staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Russian forces have been running into other roadblocks in recent days, and have particularly had trouble obtaining proper supplies and food and are now resorting to eating dogs, according to messages between Russian fighters that Ukrainian intelligence intercepted.
High-ranking Russian officers in the military are also increasingly less enthralled by the war. Two Russian colonels were caught in a tapped phone call trash-talking “motherfucker” Putin for his plans in Ukraine and all the losses of the Russian military.
“There are horrible losses of our guys, fuck,” one of them allegedly said in the call, according to a recording Ukrainian intelligence shared.
The flagging morale comes as many countries work to increase the pressure on Russia and further isolate Moscow from the rest of the world. The European Union announced Monday it plans on partially banning Russian oil imports in a move meant to restrict Russia’s funds available to back the war in Ukraine. Already, Russia’s stock market has been tumbling following the news.
