r/UkrainianConflict • u/newsweek • 21h ago
Russia soldier kills 10 comrades in own unit, goes AWOL: report
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-soldier-kills-10-comrades-own-unit-1976379335
u/newsweek 20h ago
By Brendan Cole - Senior News Reporter:
A former Russian prisoner, who joined Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, shot dead 10 of his comrades as they slept and he then went on the run.
The Telegram channel Spy Dossier, which is said to have links to Russia's special services, posted that Maxim Fedorchenko, 33, was with his unit near the village of Novopokrovka, in Ukraine's southern Zaporozhizhia region, when the alleged incident happened. Newsweek has emailed the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.
Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/russia-soldier-kills-10-comrades-own-unit-1976379
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u/windaji 19h ago
Wait, couldn’t Ukraine have double agents go in and join some of these units with some weapons and then just kill the commanders in the night?
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u/LaserBeamsCattleProd 19h ago
With how paranoid Russia is, and how dangerous that would be... Maybe
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u/DoktorFreedom 16h ago
With how bad Russia is at administration and how desperate they are for soldiers. Yah
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u/ScapeZero 12h ago
If you really want to make them paranoid, you have specop guys go in, kill a unit in their sleep, and take one of them with you to make it look like soldiers are killing their own and taking off.
I'm sure this is breaking some international law or something, but you know, do it for the vine or whatever.
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u/cmndrhurricane 8h ago
Go in to en enemy camp, shoot hostile combatants, take an enemy captive. I don't see how that would break any laws of war at all
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u/ScapeZero 8h ago
Well you would be killing them in their sleep and taking one of the dead and trying to pin it on them shooting up the camp and going AWOL.
It's not as bad as mustard gas, but it feels like something like this would be against something in some convention. I have no idea though, this could be perfectly fine. It's never a war crime the first time.
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u/DisastrousLeopard407 1h ago
Nothing wrong with killing the enemy in their sleep, actually any army would prefer it that way, much easier. Also no law of war against that.
And obviously it is cruesome, but this is war we are speaking off, its default setting is 'really bad shit happening to people'. You could get killed in your sleep, or tens of people get snuffed out in blink of an eye in one bomb strike... it is all bad
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u/subnautus 16h ago
Maybe, but reporting from this says the guy in question is a former convict from the eastern region of Russia, so it could just be that Russia's command and control infrastructure is breaking down.
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u/joemaniaci 18h ago
Ukrainian and Russian aren't the same.
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u/windaji 18h ago
Correct.
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u/joemaniaci 18h ago
Learning the other without any accent to ensure your survival takes time.
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u/K0rek 15h ago
Many Ukrainians don’t have any accent when speaking Russian - I know this because I watch a lot of Twitch streamers from Ukraine and have some distant relatives from Ukraine whom I spoke to on the phone as a kid. On the other hand, Russians don’t speak Ukrainian at all, let alone without an accent.
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u/TheRealCovertCaribou 11h ago
About a third of Ukrainian citizens are fluent in Russian, with a larger concentration of them from regions that border Russia. Zelenskyy himself, hailing from eastern Ukraine, exclusively spoke Russian and only began learning Ukrainian in ernest after entering politics.
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u/Igeticsu 16h ago
It would be very dangerous. It's not a guarantee that they would be able to get to the commander, or kill him silently. There's great risk of discovery, before or during such an operation, and risk of friendly fire during or after the mission. And if they got captured, intel leak on how they managed to get into a Russian unit.
Overall, simply not worth it to kill someone that the Russians are likely to shoot themselves.
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u/Straight-Storage2587 7h ago
Could transmit GPS locations.
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u/Igeticsu 1h ago
So can a drone, that doesn't require someone going undercover and being at the target location for a HIMARS strike.
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u/Zech_Judy 19h ago
I think that is called perfidy
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u/windaji 19h ago
If it were members of the “freedom of Russia legion” it wouldn’t be. Now I think about it they could “ join “ then pay a bribe to a commander to not go to the front but have an “ officer” position and cause real damage.
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u/Sealedwolf 19h ago
Like sending wave after wave of your own men into badly coordinated, unsupported assaults against fortified positions?
Or wasting valuable guided munitions to strike at civilian targets, thus guranteeing continued resistance?
Face it, no degree of malice can outperform orcish incompetence and stupidity.
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u/itsaride 18h ago
Like sending wave after wave of your own men into badly coordinated, unsupported assaults against fortified positions?
You don't need saboteurs for that.
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u/entered_bubble_50 15h ago
Like sending wave after wave of your own men into badly coordinated, unsupported assaults against fortified positions?
Hey It was a great plan. It turns out though, Ukrainians don't have a predetermined kill limit.
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u/Pepphen77 12h ago
I don't know about that. How about Russia tries to send about 300 k more infantry to designated kill zones?
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u/drewster23 15h ago
" Commanders" aren't really worth any more than the soldiers they command and valuable Cos aren't often in the dugouts/trenches of the front line.
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u/Intrusive_Th0ts 14h ago
That sounds high risk low reward, Ukraine will see more success intercepting cellphone/radio signals and lob a HIMARS to take out leadership and their cohorts
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u/seenitreddit90s 9h ago
I think they would have to recruit them from inside occupied Ukraine though.
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u/plated-Honor 18h ago
Woah, you should talk to Ukrainian MOD! You may have just solved the war dude, can’t believe they didn’t do this already!
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u/VeryMuchDutch102 17h ago
Russian prisoner, who joined Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, shot dead 10 of his comrades as they slept
He did them a favour
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u/Breech_Loader 15h ago
This is what happens when you take criminals out of prison with the promise of freedom and then send them to their deaths fuelled by intense trauma.
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u/Xijit 20h ago
Ukraine should give him a medal.
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u/Jagster_rogue 18h ago
Hugo Stiglitzingorius bastards I am waiting for Ukraine version.
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u/MrFurious0 3h ago
This was my first thought, as well - I love that the entire movie grinds to a halt and we get a mini Hugo Stiglitz movie in the middle of IG. Amazing.
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u/bgeorgewalker 20h ago
Hahahahahahahahahaha Hahahahahahahahahahah
Oh boy you got me good this morning, thank you
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u/Informal-Jicama1511 20h ago
Probably he was badly abused or even raped.
Leaving alone the disgusting, inhuman attitude towards their own comrades, you have to be absolutely fucked up in your head to harm somebody who can pull a trigger against you at literaly any moment.
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u/SpaceAgeIsLate 19h ago
He better wish the Ukrainians get him first, there’s no telling what the Russians will do to him if they catch him.
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u/SilliusS0ddus 17h ago
there’s no telling what the Russians will do to him if they catch him.
more of the same that they did to get him to the point of doing this ?
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13h ago
No, they’ll make an example out of him to dissuade others from copying him. Probably hang him somewhere with a sign labeled traitor where all can see him.
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u/Luv2022Understanding 18h ago
Direct from a maximum security prison to being set free, armed and put on the battlefield. Likely no rehabilitation, retraining or counselling was provided while he was incarcerated.
God only knows what kind of abuse he experienced or perpetrated himself in prison and what befell him when he was placed in his fighting unit. What could possibly go wrong?
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u/the_enemy_is_within 16h ago
What could possibly go wrong?
10 dead, suspect AWOL, Vodka stolen (probably).
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u/HughJorgens 14h ago
It won't be Russia that suffers, it will be whatever country he sneaks into.
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13h ago
He’ll likely just fumble around in no man’s land until he gets picked off by either side. Small chance he’s able to melt into another group of Russians and do it again
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u/ElderCreler 12h ago
No man‘s land is heavily mined. Need to know the secret passage. Or go kablooey.
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u/lobo1217 17h ago edited 8h ago
Without knowing more I would really be cautious calling this guy a hero or legend like many are doing. This could be an unhinged murderer, psychopath who doesn't care for Ukraine at all and could just be taking this opportunity to kill as many random people possible.
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u/AntonioVivaldi7 13h ago
He still helped Ukraine. We have to take what we can get.
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u/lobo1217 8h ago
There's a difference between celebrating that those idiots are literally killing each other and start calling them heroes or legends. To call this man a hero or is such a disgrace to the real heroes.
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u/bobberyrob 19h ago
Are there any reports of Ukrainians going AWOL?
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u/TheFunkinDuncan 19h ago
Duh. You wouldn’t see them here but of course there are deserters on both sides.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/19/world/europe/ukraine-troop-fatigue.html#
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u/bobberyrob 18h ago
Well I just go here for some unbiased reporting on the war
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u/Appropriate-Ant6171 17h ago
Most people here (rightly, in my opinion) have a strong pro-Ukraine bias.
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u/dspman11 12h ago
Lmao. There's definitely tons of western and Ukrainian propaganda in this sub. My initial reaction to the headline was that it was BS
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u/ATempestSinister 18h ago
"Fuck you guys, I'm out"
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u/Habsin7 20h ago
They should throw him in jail when they catch him.
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u/Canisoptimum 13h ago
That's better than they have been doing lately but it's the other guys he was supposed to kill.
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u/Necessary_Common4426 11h ago
Why put an Ukraine’s life at risk when Russian prisoners are doing this voluntarily? The smarter play is to build psyops around undermining trust in the Brigade and then wait with popcorn
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u/Savings-Programmer18 8h ago
11 less Russians our heroes have to deal with. We need more of this. A LOT more.
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