Russia recently passed its one-month mark of the Ukraine invasion. It has not gone well, and over 17,000 Russian troops reportedly died.
Apart from seizing the Ukrainian city of Kherson and various areas in the east, Russia’s assault has not been very successful.
It’s also outraged the world as airwaves have been flooded with images of suffering and dead Ukrainian civilians.
Yet, it’s not only Ukrainians and Westerners who are angry at Russia’s military and its leader Vladimir Putin. It’s also the Russian military.
Let me explain…
Meet Russia’s 37th Motor Rifle Brigade
Russia’s 37th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade is a group of 1,500 soldiers under the command of General Yuri Medvedev. More accurately, the brigade was under the command of Medvedev.
He was recently crushed to death by his own troops, who ran over him with a tank. They were enraged about the loss of over half their unit in the start of this war.
Specifically, one of the soldiers who was particularly furious got into a tank. He then made a high-speed run for Medvedev at a busy time of the battle, mangling his legs, and severely wounding him. They blamed him for the losses they had taken in the unit.
Others quickly loaded the severely wounded Medvedev into a medavac truck, but he later died in a hospital. Russia claims he is still alive in Belarus and is waiting to be rewarded for his heroic actions in the fighting, including a financial reward for his bravery.
🇷🇺 commander of the 37th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, colonel Yuri Medvedev was run over by a tank of his own unit after casualties in 🇺🇦. In 2021 one of his tank commanders won the 🇷🇺 national tank teams competition. pic.twitter.com/lvaTnwvEZ4
— Eerik N Kross (@EerikNKross) March 24, 2022
Russia’s Ukrainian Nightmare
This war is turning into an absolute nightmare for Russia.
Their equipment is breaking down, their advances are stalling; their attacks are killing innocent people and Ukrainians are fighting back ferociously. They’ve also been joined by foreigners who are helping out in the international legion.
Putin knows his military’s cohesion is coming apart at the seams and is tightening up penalties. In memories of the Second World War, Russian soldiers who try to desert are being gunned down by special squads of killers sent to maintain order.
Brutal communist dictator Joseph Stalin did the same, forcing Russian soldiers to run unarmed or lightly-armed into a wall of bullets or be shot in the back by executioners.
It is unclear what happened to the traitor soldier who drove the tank over Medvedev, but we can safely assume if he did not swiftly escape after his actions, he is no longer alive.
Colonel Yuri Medvedev is said to have suffered severe leg injuries in the attack, which took place after almost half the troops in his brigade of 1,500 either died, or were wounded, in a series of clashes in the early weeks of the war.https://t.co/ek5MdbZVTq
— Stephen Harper EFIAP BPE3* (@StephenHBPE2) March 25, 2022
The Bottom Line
Russia is losing in Ukraine and it is also taking heavy losses of top generals like Medvedev.
The rage of Russian soldiers at their own commanders is easy to understand; they’ve been sent on an unclear and poorly-run mission and left to die.
This is tragic abuse of the military, and no matter how much you hate Putin and support Ukraine, you have to acknowledge he isn’t only assaulting Ukraine.
He’s also murdering and abusing his own military by the thousands.
