Ukrainian fighters are teaching demoralised Russian soldiers how to sabotage their own military equipment, with thousands signing up to the movement.
Around 4,000 of Vladimir Putin's troops have joined an “educational platform” known as the “Atesh School”, according to the organisation's Telegram page.
The group says in a promotional post that its followers “have mastered the art of breaking equipment and sabotaging orders”.
READ MORE: Putin official dies in balcony fall in latest mysterious death of Russian top brass
On Telegram, the organisation specifically calls for Russian troops and mercenaries fighting with the Wagner Group to join the movement.
"Students of the Atesh School know that there is no need to go to war if you can get good money in the rear, repairing your equipment and not risking your life," one Telegram post read.
As well as operating in parts of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces, the group also claims to have a presence with Russia, with Crimean Tatars – indigenous people from the annexed peninsula – involved in its creation.
"Every day we receive new information, new reports of successful sabotage within the Russian army," the organisation claimed on Telegram.
Among the videos on the organisation's website is one providing information on how to “neutralise” the gearbox of a Russian T-72 tank.
Taras Fedirko, a lecturer in organised crime and corruption at Glasgow University, told Newsweek that there had been acts of sabotage carried out by Russian troops since the start of the war, but they had not previously gone public with their actions.
To get more stories from the Daily Star delivered straight to your inbox sign up to one of our free newsletters here.
This new "school" appears to "break with this pattern," he said.
However, he said that verifying the group's claims of responsibility for damaging equipment was difficult.
“It is to be expected that any resistance movement would take up this form of sabotage," Fedirko said.
"I assess that its main role is exploiting the weak morale of Russian troops and contributing to Ukraine's 'psychological warfare'."
In March 2022, the director of GCHQ, Sir Jeremy Fleming, said that Russian soldiers had been sabotaging their equipment and refusing to comply with orders within a month of the war breaking out.
"We've seen Russian soldiers, short of weapons and morale, refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their own equipment and even accidentally shooting down their own aircraft," Fleming said at the time.
Within the last week Ukraine's general staff of the armed forces said that Russian forces in Mariupol were repairing military equipment which was “deliberately derailed by Russian soldiers, so as not to participate in combat".
READ NEXT:
- Russians are 'living in s**t' with 'poverty everywhere,' says top Soviet film star
- Every 100 yards of territory 'costs Russia lives of 2,000 men,' says NATO
- Fears Putin could kill Brit tourists in the Mediterranean as sea mine drifts 1,000 miles
Source: Read Full Article
