Mobilized Russian troops have beaten to death the deputy commander of their regiment in the occupied peninsula of Crimea before fleeing the scene, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
The soldiers from the 20th Motorized Rifle Division, part of the eighth Army of Russia's southern military district, "inflicted severe bodily injuries on Colonel Musurbekov," on November 1, Ukraine's intelligence service said, according to a translation, without giving the commander's first name. That same day, the troops suspected of carrying out the attack changed out of their uniforms into civilian clothes and then left their base in the Simferopol district, fleeing to the neighboring Russian region of Krasnodar.
Ukraine's General Staff has said that there are increasing numbers of Russian troops deserting the war in Ukraine. There have been numerous reports since the start of
Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion
of low morale, poor equipment and training, as well as problems with command.
In August this year, a group of Russian soldiers in Ukraine's occupied Kherson oblast
released a video appeal to the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, in which they describe their morale as being "below floor level."
In the latest case, Ukrainian intelligence said that, six days after the beating, Colonel Musurbekov died from his injuries in a hospital in Simferopol.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment by email. We have not as yet been able to verify the claims of Ukrainian intelligence.