Chechen Army Steals From Russian Military; Soldier Forced To Find Gun Or Be Killed

Members of the Chechen army have allegedly been stealing weaponry from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s soldiers, according to a newly released recording.

Ukraine’s Security Service on Saturday released a recording of an intercepted phone call where a Russian soldier was heard complaining that Chechens, who said they were doing reconnaissance work, stole his gun.

“They came, as they said, to pray: ‘Let us in, bro, we’re friends, doing reconnaissance.’ I let them in, damn it. While he was praying, he swiped my PM (Makarov pistol)! They jumped in a car and f**king left,” the soldier said in the intercepted call.

The soldier, whose identity was not revealed by Ukrainian officials, also said he was sent to dig trenches by his commanders for losing his gun. However, he was later asked to search for his own gun within two days or be killed.

“And if I don’t find it, I’ll be killed! And they will write me off because ‘I’m missing… disappeared after a reconnaissance mission against the ‘Ukrops’ (Ukrainian defenders), shot by them,” the soldier added.

Ukraine’s Security Service did not reveal when or where the call was intercepted. It is also unclear who the Russian soldier was speaking with.

The newly-released call recording is the latest evidence of the declining morale among Russian troops as the war in Ukraine stretches into its third month.

On Monday, Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration took to Telegram to report that several Russian military personnel took out about 20 of their vehicles just to avoid going to the frontline amid the war. The post added that Russian soldiers blamed resistance fighters in the region for the destruction of their cars.

“For advice from the local residents, near Pologah, the Russian military shot down 20 of their own vehicles, just not to go to the front line, saying that the representatives of the Rukh had built a support on the Timchas-occupied Zaporitory territory,” the Telegram post read.

Earlier this month, Ukraine’s Security Service also released another recording where a Russian soldier was heard saying he was considering hammering shrapnel into his body just to escape the war.