Russia Has Lost Multiple Soldiers To Friendly Fire, On-Duty Drunkenness: Report

Over the course of the 10-month invasion of Ukraine, Russian soldiers have not only died on the battlefield against Ukrainian forces but also suffered non-combat losses and "friendly fire," according to an investigation.

One of the most common causes of death of Russian troops is the mishandling of weapons. Often, "mishandling" meant a soldier forgot to put a weapon on the fuse and accidentally shot a comrade, Russian investigative media Important Stories reported, citing the verdicts of garrison military courts, as translated via Google Translate.

In addition to recklessness, the investigative report found that on-duty drunkenness led to injuries, conflicts and homicides among Russian ranks.

"On-duty alcohol use by military personnel is a major cause of incidents in the Armed Forces, such as injuries, conflicts, and homicides, at least in peacetime in non-combat areas," military experts from the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) said in the report. "Another reason is the lack of junior officers. There are no sergeants in the troops who would monitor discipline and help in resolving conflicts, there are no officers who would delve into who serves in their unit."

In one instance cited in the report, contract soldier Stanislav Bolkunov shot and killed a colleague because he "wanted to relieve tension and could not find another way to do it." Bolkunov has been sentenced to prison for 10 years.

The publication's experts said Russia lost more soldiers from friendly fire over the past 10 months than the international conventional norm.

Russian troops have been caught venting about the dangers they face from their own comrades in the war in Ukraine during phone calls to their loved ones. On Tuesday, Ukrainian intelligence released an audio of an intercepted phone call where a man who was identified only as Aleksei told his mother that their own tank fired and killed 20 men in his unit.

"Our tank hit hard: It fired twice and 20 guys, fuck. I'm telling you, what the fuck kind of command is this, scumbags. They're fucking killing their own," Aleksei said in the phone call. "I'm telling you, there are more losses from our own [guys]."

On Monday, Ukrainian intelligence also released another audio where a soldier was heard complaining that Russian military leadership gave "zero f**ks" if soldiers did not come back alive.

As of Tuesday, Russia lost 99,230 troops in the war, as per estimates from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.