Friendly fire incident plagues Russian army amid low morale
At least 11 soldiers were shot as a result of friendly fire in the Russian army. The military police are searching for a soldier who killed six colleagues and fled. The consumption of alcohol and low morale may be contributing to the tensions. These are intelligence reports from the British Ministry of Defence, which Belsat TV cites.
The wanted soldier, who allegedly killed several service members, is a former prisoner recruited into the Storm-Z unit, attached to an artillery battalion in the Russia-occupied Donetsk region, writes Belsat.
The second incident occurred on 5 May at around 10:00 PM GMT, when a soldier from the 38th Independent Motorized Rifle Brigade shot five soldiers after consuming alcohol.
It was noted that cases of friendly fire have been occurring in the Russian military since the beginning of the war in Ukraine and can have deadly consequences for innocent civilians.
Belsat, citing the report, says that in mid-August 2023, in the town of Urzuf near Mariupol, Chechen fighters and Russian soldiers opened fire on each other after a dispute following alcohol consumption. 11 people were killed, including four Russian soldiers and seven civilians.
These cases of friendly fire are a symptomatic combination of low morale, alcohol abuse, and ethnic tensions. The continuous use of former inmates with criminal backgrounds from the Storm-Z unit in combat operations further exacerbates the incidents of friendly fire – it stated.
A few months ago, Ukrainian services published a video from the front. The footage showed how a Russian Pantsir-S system fired one of its missiles towards its soldiers. The portal notes that the cause of the incident is unknown, but many suggest a software malfunction caused by the weapon.
