Poppy Bilderbeck
Ukrainian military chiefs have claimed Russian soldiers accidentally set 'flamethrowers' on their own troops.
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin first sent troops across the border on 24 February, intelligence has suggested the Kremlin leader 'overestimated' the capabilities of his military.
On Sunday, 8 May, in Zaporizhzhia province, Ukraine's 97th Infantry Battalion allege a group of Russian occupiers 'burned' members of their own army by mistake using a 'heavy Zantsepek flamethrower system'.
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Leaders of the 97th Infantry Battalion took to Facebook to express the group's 'satisfaction' at the alleged occurrence.
It wrote: "The leadership of the 97th Infantry Battalion expresses its satisfaction with the actions of the Russian occupiers, who today, using the heavy Zantsepek flamethrower system in the Zaporizhzhia direction, used it against their positions and actually burned the racist occupiers from Ukrainian soil.
"Such actions are positively perceived and supported in every way by the Ukrainian military."
TOS-1 rockets as well as thermobaric flamethrowers are reported as being used in the incident.
It remains unclear the extent of the injuries or loss of life caused by the flamethrower.
Russia has also yet to address the allegations.
According to Zaporizhzhia Military Administration, Russian soldiers have been destroying their own vehicles in a bid to get out of fighting in Putin's 'special military operation'.
On Telegram the organisation wrote: "According to local residents, Russian troops have shelled 20 of their own vehicles in Polohy in order to avoid going to the front line; they blamed the shelling on [Ukrainian] resistance fighters in the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia."
Russian troops have previously been reported as becoming disorientated and confused over who to attack, with one soldier having surrendered in return for money and Ukrainian citizenship.
Captured soldiers have been caught on camera crying in fear of being sent home, claiming they will be 'dead' if they go back regarded as failures.
Other soldiers have even staged a mutiny and refused to fight.
However, Sir James Everard, a former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, has warned that despite some Russian soldiers' reluctance to fight and turning against the Kremlin, that such resistance could cause Putin to 'escalate' the invasion.
He warned Putin may choose to send in over 600,000 troops or even consider the use of nuclear weapons in his next steps.
Everard told The Mirror: "He is in a terrible place. It was entirely of his own making. I can't see him achieving his objectives without escalating conventionally.
"Where Putin has an advantage over the West is that he has a family of nuclear weapons. From the very small to the big city destroyers. In the UK, we have the city destroyers, but not the small ones. Perhaps for Putin, nuclear escalation isn't as big as we see it to be. I still think it would be horrific."
At Russia's annual military parade yesterday, Monday 9 May, Putin tried to justify his 'special military operation' as being necessary because the West had been 'preparing for the invasion of our land, including Crimea'.
He told troops: "You're fighting for our people in Donbas, for the security of our motherland, Russia."
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