Russian Soldiers 'Flee Naked': Removed Uniforms, Swam Across River To Escape Ukraine Army

Russian soldiers who ran away from the Armed Forces of Ukraine (UAF) took their uniforms off and swam across the Dnipro River "naked," according to a video.

The Ukrainian forces found dozens of helmets and military vests belonging to the Russian army abandoned on the ground near the Dnipro River. The fleeing Russian forces also abandoned their ammunition and grenades before swimming across the river.

"So the Russkies ran away like that. They were running away naked, look. They were fleeing across this river. They left the ammo there. Everything," a UAF member said in a video posted by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. "Russian bears flee naked."

It is unclear when the video was taken. The defense ministry also did not specify where the footage was taken.

The video comes days after a statement from the Russian defense ministry said that all Russian forces withdrew from the west bank of the Kherson region Friday, CNN reported.

As of Monday, the Armed Forces of Ukraine began mop-up operations in the newly-liberated city of Kherson. Officials were also working to restore essential services in the city, including electricity, communication, internet and television.

"This is what the Russian flag means - complete desolation," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address. "There is no electricity, no communication, no Internet, no television. The occupiers destroyed everything themselves - on purpose."

Kherson was the first major city to have fallen to Russian forces early in the war. It was also the only provincial capital they seized. The city serves as a vital Black Sea port and a gateway to the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

In late September, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia annexed the entire Kherson region and three other occupied Ukrainian territories despite not having full control of the regions. Ukraine, however, began to isolate the Russians in Kherson in late summer by using longer-range Western weapons to bombard bridges that Russia used to resupply its army in the city.

The recent withdrawal from Kherson city serves as another humiliating setback for the Russian army since Ukraine swept through the northern Kharkiv region in its counteroffensive operations.