Troops from Ukrainian elite units deployed to Russia's Kursk region have laid down their arms and surrendered, dealing a serious blow to Kyiv's war effort.
Maj. Gen. Apty Alaudinov, the commander of the Russian Akhmat Special Forces battalion, confirmed this in an Oct. 15 interview with journalist Vladimir Solovyov. The commander rejected claims by Ukraine that Russian soldiers executed nine Ukrainian service members in Kursk, many of whom were drone operators.
Alaudinov dismissed the claim as a psy-op, arguing that Kyiv "needs to create fake news to discourage its military from surrendering" as many Ukrainian service members "openly say they can fight no more." Despite these, the commander pointed out that enemy troops "often decide to surrender anyway."
"What's interesting is that the units that they considered to be the most unassailable and elite, they are also beginning to slowly lean toward surrendering as they want to stay alive," the Akhmat commander told Solovyov.
According to Alaudinov, Moscow is ready to spare even those who serve in the Aidar Battalion or Azov Brigade if they lay down their arms. The two brigades have been accused of having neo-Nazi sympathies. It is worth noting that "denazification" was one of Russia's goals for launching the "special military operation" in Ukraine in February 2022.
Several Western media outlets have reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) is struggling with exhaustion, low morale and desertion. Many of the reinforcements arriving at the front, who were pressed into service through Ukraine's draconian military draft, suffer from inadequate training. In turn, this only worsens the problems mentioned.
Ukraine launched a large-scale incursion into Kursk in early August, allocating some of its best troops for the offensive. While they initially made some progress, the Russian government said its forces managed to halt the Ukrainian advance and later pushed them back. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ukraine has lost more than 23,000 troops since the start of the attack. (Related: Ukraine's offensive in Kursk region is the first direct attack on Russia since WWII.)
Russia appears to be winning the war
Earlier, Alaudinov uploaded a video on his Telegram channel that featured an alleged AFU service member who once served in the Aidar Battalion. In the video, the soldier named Vladimir Zaichenko who surrendered to Russian forces stood against a backdrop of the flags of Russia and the Chechen Republic.
The commander said that the Akhmat special forces detachment and the Fourth Brigade under the command of Nimble (a nom de guerre) were responsible for holding the soldier in custody. Zaichenko said he surrendered voluntarily to the Akhmat unit and asked its commander for help in obtaining Russian citizenship. The soldier also petitioned Alaudinov to take him under his wing so he could serve under the Akhmat unit.
"[I] voluntarily surrendered to the Akhmat special forces soldiers," Zaichenko explained. "I ask for help in obtaining citizenship of the Russian Federation from the highly respected general … to continue serving in the Akhmat special forces."
Mac Slavo of SHTF Plan had a rather pessimistic view of Ukraine's chances of winning its conflict with Russia. "This is not the first time we've heard of Ukraine having 'trouble' with the war," he remarked.
"The Ukrainian military is being outdone by Russia and it looks like its defeat at the hands of Moscow is imminent. Even with the help of Western backers, Ukraine can't seem to get the upper hand in this war."
"Despite Kyiv's efforts to maintain morale, many members of their nationalist units can no longer fight. Perhaps they don't want to be conscripted and die in a war that can't be won. Maybe that's why the 'morale,' if they have any, is so low."
Head over to UkraineWitness.com for more stories about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Watch Maj. Gen. Apty Alaudinov of the Akhmat Special Forces revealing the AFU's atrocities in Kursk below.
This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.
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