The suicidal Russian soldiers were tricked into blowing up their own wounded soldiers – not realizing that they were prisoners of war sent by Ukraine to test the Easter ceasefire.
Heartbreaking footage shows deadly FPV drones swooping down on three apparently injured fighters in a brutal attack.
It appears that the killer drone pilots believed that the unarmed trio were Ukrainian soldiers, openly carrying out the incident strikes Ceasefire amid Vladimir Putin’s holidays.
One of the men can be seen hobbling on crutches, while the other man is desperately waving a white flag – yet all three are brutally attacked.
But Kiev’s military had sent out three Russian POWs dressed in “neutral uniforms”, suspecting that Putin’s bloodthirsty forces would take advantage of their own ceasefire to attack.
The Ukrainian 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade said it was “checking compliance with ceasefire promises by the enemy” near Chasiv Yar in the hard-fought Donetsk region.
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Their fear proved fatal and three Russian men – named Private AA Choshev, Junior Sergeant AV Zagrebin and Senior Sergeant SA Zhuravlev – were killed by their own hands.
“The enemy is not fulfilling its ceasefire promises and is killing its own Russian soldiers,” the brigade said.
A video released by the unit said: “The injured soldiers leave their positions, unarmed.
“The enemy identifies the evacuation team and attacks with FPV drones.
“The evacuation was unsuccessful. All soldiers were killed.”
“The enemy again violated the ceasefire.”
The Ukrainians admitted that they had deliberately sent the POWs as a test.
He said the move was intended to allow them to “safely evacuate the personnel of their units”, with the commanders deciding to dress the captured soldiers in neutral uniforms.
This strategy may raise questions under the rules of war and is likely to be investigated.
But the incident also highlights Russia’s blatant disregard for the ceasefire personally ordered by Kiev’s Putin.
Ukraine claims there were 2,299 ceasefire violations in the first 15 hours of the planned 32-hour pause.
These included 28 strike operations, 479 shelling incidents, 747 kamikaze drone strikes and 1,045 FPV drone strikes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promised to respect the ceasefire on Saturday.
He called it an opportunity to build on peace initiatives – but warned there would be a swift military response to any violations.
Previous ceasefire efforts over Easter during the brutal four-year war had little effect – Putin repeatedly violated the terms.
Hours before the ceasefire was to begin, another drone strike by the Russian dictator killed at least two people in Odessa.
It comes as Ukraine claimed Putin’s war funds are running out – as Russia tried to signal that a peace deal was “on the horizon”.
Ukraine’s top negotiator, 40-year-old Lieutenant General Kirill Budanov, said Russia was changing its stance.
He told Bloomberg: “They all understand that the war must end. That’s why they are negotiating.”
“I don’t think it’ll take long.”
Budanov also said that Russia is moving towards the end game as the “trillions” it has spent on the conflict are paying off.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 is causing the country’s defense costs to skyrocket, reaching £144 billion in 2025.
It has left the country on the brink of economic collapse as the war reaches its fifth year, as a desperate Kremlin plows millions into the conflict.
