‘Barbaric’ Russia executing retreating soldiers in Ukraine, White House says

“Barbaric” Russian military commanders are executing their own soldiers who refuse to follow orders — and threatening entire units with death if they try to retreat from fighting in Ukraine, the Biden administration has said.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Thursday that the US has intelligence that insubordinate troops are being put to death.

“We also have information that Russian commanders are threatening to execute entire units if they seek to retreat from Ukrainian artillery fire,” Kirby went on.

The Kremlin and the Russian Defense Ministry have not commented on the US claims.

Ukrainian officials said earlier this week that Moscow’s forces were ignoring heavy losses and pressing on with a hitherto unsuccessful offensive to capture the eastern city of Avdiivka.

Kirby said the Russian military was using “human wave tactics” by throwing poorly trained and under equipped soldiers into battle – and then killing them if they refused to fight.

“It’s reprehensible to think that you would execute your own soldiers because they didn’t want to follow orders,” the spokesman said during Thursday’s White House briefing.

He also condemned the threats to execute retreating units as “barbaric.”

“I think it’s a symptom of how poorly Russia’s military leaders know they’re doing and how bad they have handled this from a military perspective,” Kirby added.

The White House did not provide any details, such as how many Russian troops have been executed on the orders of their commanders for failing to follow orders, or any specific examples of units threatened with execution for seeking to retreat.

But the latest information echoes previous reports, including by the British Ministry of Defense, that the regular Russian military has deployed “barrier troops” to shoot any would-be deserters.

Approximately 5,000 Russian forces have been killed or wounded and 400 armored vehicles have been destroyed near the towns of Avdiivka and Marinka, southwest of Donetsk City, since Oct. 10, according to a Ukrainian military spokesman.

Kirby said in his update that since Oct. 11, Russia had lost “at least 125 units of armored vehicles around Avdiivka and more than a battalion’s worth of military equipment.”

The White House spokesman also noted that the Russian troops in Avdiivka are struggling with “low morale.”

“They are in such desperate need to make some kind of progress, particularly in the Donbas, the Donetsk areas, that they are literally throwing young men into the fight who haven’t been properly trained, haven’t been properly equipped, and certainly are not being properly led.”

With Post wires