Russian commanders in occupied southern Ukraine are facing mass mutinies as regiments refuse to fight due to a lack of basic supplies and no pay, it has been claimed.
The Russian 127th regiment of the 1st army corps reportedly ignored orders to join a battle near the southern city of Kherson, according to intelligence cited by Ukraine's southern operational command.
Soldiers who led the mutiny told superiors they could not fight because they had endured weeks of water shortages and scarce rations, all while not receiving their paychecks.
Russia's GRU and FSB intelligence agencies 'investigated' the individuals responsible for leading the revolt and 'removed' them from their positions, according to Ukraine's military.
The mutineers are likely to face a harrowing fate - many so-called 'refuseniks' are shipped off to detention centres in Russian-occupied territory where they are bullied into returning to the front lines or held in awful conditions and tortured.
It comes as Kremlin-installed local government officials in Kherson said they were forced to suspend a 'referendum' on whether the city should join the Russian Federation due to safety concerns amid Ukrainian counter-offensives in the region.
The 127th regiment is just one of several Russian units which have chosen to ignore orders amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Despite the risk of ending up in a torture camp or being executed, scores of Putin's troops have resigned from their duties en-masse, having learned the truth about the conflict they were tasked with instigating.
Others laid down their arms after enduring weeks of battle while being drastically undersupplied with food, water and ammunition.
نشرت وحدة واحدة من فوج البندقية 113 لما يسمى بجمهورية دونيتسك الشعبية في يونيو مقطع فيديو عبر تطبيق المراسلة Telegram ، معلنين أنهم لم يعودوا قادرين على القتال بسبب النقص الكامل في المعدات وتفشي المرض والإصابة ، لكن رؤسائهم فسروا ذلك. شكوانا بأنها تخريب '.
في اللقطات ، يمكن سماع القائد يقول: 'تغلبت شركتنا على البرد والجوع ولفترة طويلة فعلنا ذلك دون دعم مادي أو إمدادات طبية أو طعام.
لقد تمت تعبئة وحدتنا دون أي فحوصات طبية ، وهناك من بين وحدتنا الذين لا ينبغي حشدهم وفقًا لقوانين جمهورية دونيتسك الشعبية.
"تثار أسئلة كثيرة يتجاهلها الأمر ... أظهر الاحترام لضباطك - ما الذي يمكن كسبه من إرسال جنودك للموت؟"