Russian Soldier Opens Fire on His Own Unit: Report

Ukrainian military intelligence on Friday posted what it said was an intercepted phone call between two Russian soldiers in Ukraine discussing another soldier shooting at his own comrades.

Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) shared the audio on its Telegram channel. According to a translation by the Kyiv Post, GUR wrote in the caption that the call "reveals the critical psychological state of Russian soldiers."

During the approximately 35-second clip of the phone call posted by GUR, the alleged incident is described in graphic detail.

One of the soldiers details that a soldier from his brigade had "lost his grip" and began shooting at the other members of the unit. While it is not revealed if any others were killed or injured during the incident, the shooter was said to have been killed.

"Hi. Why didn't you call me yesterday?" the first soldier said at the beginning of the call, per the Kyiv Post.

"F***, yesterday was such a fun evening. The guy from the 12th brigade likely lost his grip yesterday and started f****** shooting us," the second soldier said. "He said, 'I'll f****** kill you, a*******!'"

"Our guys shot him dead. I had to carry his body," the second soldier added.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email for comment.

The post for GUR of the alleged shooting incident comes after various other reports have emerged in recent weeks of Russian soldiers describing the harsh conditions of serving in Ukraine.

Last week, a video was posted on social media that reportedly showed Russian troops saying they were punished by a commanding officer for refusing to fight on Ukraine's front lines because they lacked equipment.

WarTranslated, an independent media project that translates materials about the war into English, shared a portion of that video on Twitter.

"We've been locked in this pit for refusing to go the zero line. [We have] sat here for two days," one of the soldiers in the clip said. "Zero line" is a term that Russians frequently use for a battlefield's front lines.

WarTranslated also shared a video late last month of a Russian unit saying they would not return to what they called the "meat grinder" of the front lines.

"Initially, upon arriving to the SMO [special military operation] zone, we had 150 people. After brutal fights, this is all what's left us," a soldier in the video said. The soldier speaking in the video was one of about 20 shown.

One of the most damning indictments of Russia's military came from Russian General Ivan Popov, who said he was removed from his post after he criticized Moscow's Defense Ministry for not providing enough support to his troops.

In a voice message published July 12 on Telegram, Popov went so far as to accuse senior military commanders and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of treason due to their lack of support.

"The Ukrainian Army could not break through our ranks at the front but our senior chief hit us from the rear, viciously beheading the army at the most difficult and intense moment," Popov said, according to a translation by the Russian independent news outlet Meduza.