Russian soldiers open fire on comrades: morale crisis deepens

Russian soldiers from the Storm-Z unit have once again opened fire on a group of their comrades. As a result of the shooting, which was likely initiated by a penal company of Putin's army, at least one Russian soldier was killed, and several were wounded. Those remaining were beaten and tied up by their comrades after the incident. Morale in the Russian army is certainly not high.

Low morale, alcohol abuse, and the recruitment of convicts with criminal backgrounds into the army contribute to the increasingly frequent cases of fratricidal fire in the Russian military.

Russian convicts from the Storm Z unit drank too much brew and opened fire at a group of their fellow soldiers. They immediately shot back at them in a friendly manner. One was killed, a few wounded, the rest just beaten and tied up - reported Anton Herashchenko, former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, on X.

Western intelligence agencies report that cases of fratricidal fire have been occurring in the Russian military since the beginning of the war in Ukraine and can have deadly consequences for bystander civilians.

At the beginning of May this year, at least 11 Russian soldiers were shot due to fratricidal fire.

In connection with one of these incidents, which took place on May 6, the military police actively searched for a soldier who killed six of his comrades.

The individual sought was a former prisoner recruited into the Storm-Z unit, attached to an artillery battalion in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region.

The second incident occurred on May 5, when a soldier from the 38th Independent Motorised Rifle Brigade shot five soldiers after consuming alcohol.