Russian commander tells troops to shoot fleeing | Political News

Ukraine’s army intelligence (HUR) reported that they intercepted a cellphone call from a Russian commander telling his troops to fire on subordinates who have been making an attempt to flee.

The company said that the recording was captured in Donetsk Oblast, during which the commander ordered his troops to maintain their ground at all prices. “There is no way to retreat, no way! No one is retreating anywhere; everyone is standing their ground,” the commander can allegedly be heard saying.

“If anyone runs away, shoot them,” he added. “I’ll say it again, you f——: if anybody runs away, just shoot them.”

The Kyiv Independent reported that they weren’t ready to independently confirm the authenticity of the recording. The commander’s order comes after Ukraine forces continued their counteroffensive in Donetsk Oblast.

Ukraine‘s forces have liberated 60 sq. miles of territory from Russian forces in the contested space. Last week, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that seven settlements in the Dobropillia and Pokrovsk sectors had been retaken.

As the battle between Russia and Ukraine closes in on its fourth yr, stories that Russian troopers are being executed for retreating have repeatedly surfaced. According to stories, the Wagner mercenary group was infamous for using this tactic.

The Kyiv Independent reported that, since 2022, more than 50,000 Russian troopers have abandoned. An investigation achieved by an impartial Russian media outlet called Important Stories reported that many have been pressed back into service under circumstances that have been described as near-suicidal.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin elevated the prison sentence for desertion and give up to 3-10 years. The news comes as a Kremlin propagandist, Sergei Karaganov, has began insisting that deploying tactical nuclear weapons is the only means to stop a broader battle between Washington and Moscow.

Karaganov, 73 — nicknamed Professor Doomsday — said, “The use of nuclear weapons, in excessive circumstances, in the most dreadful case, is a horrible sin.” He added, “But not using them and condemning your people and the world to a major war is an even greater sin. That is an even more terrible sin.”

“The main objective in our war, which we’re waging against Europe and the West in Ukraine, is to… break the back of Europe,” Karaganov added. “This can be done. We must abandon some of the foolish ideas devised by our predecessors [who] still say that a nuclear war shouldn’t happen…. And that it can never be won. This is absolute nonsense. A nuclear war can be won, God forbid it happens.”

According to him, a limited nuclear exchange on European soil would avert a far larger thermonuclear showdown with the United States. He argued: “We must first break the will of the European elites. What I call breaking the back of Europe, in the hope that….normal, healthy forces can rise again in Europe… I fear that if we are not prepared to use the most decisive measures, the most terrible weapons. And do not abandon the complacent notion that a nuclear war cannot be won, we could find ourselves in a very long, attritional war with this still-rich Europe. And ultimately, God forbid, exhaust our people. And most importantly, we could allow this war to spread to all of humanity. This European contagion must be eradicated…”

When asked directly about a direct strike on Europe, Karaganov said, “We need to prepare to strike, or at least make them understand that we are ready.” he added, “It won’t necessarily be a nuclear strike….but we must prepare. And that’s why I’m writing and calling for nuclear weapons to be finally returned from storage to [arm] intermediate- and shorter-range missiles. This is to try to sober up Europe.”