Russian Commander Reportedly Killed by Own Soldier in Ukraine Over ‘Scale Of Losses’ Taken by His Brigade

A Russian commander was reportedly run over on purpose by one of his own soldiers in the Kyiv region after his brigade incurred heavy losses during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Western officials have said.

Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsimbalyuk reported the incident Wednesday, stating that Col. Yuri Medvedev was run over and sustained injuries to both legs. Tsimbalyuk said Medvedev was in a hospital neighboring Belarus.

Medvedev reportedly later died of his injuries.

“The brigade commander was killed by his own troops, we believe, as a consequence of the scale of losses that have been taken by his brigade,” one official told POLITICO Europe. “We believe that he was killed by his own troops deliberately. We believe that he was run over by his own troops.”

A video released by leader of Chechnya and Vladimir Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov captured Medvedev on a stretcher being offloaded from an ambulance.

Separately, the same official also stated that a lieutenant general was killed in the fighting outside the city of Kherson. He is the seventh Russian general to be killed in action since fighting began.

Medvedev’s killing is the first reported incident of fragging since Russia invaded Ukraine last month. Fragging is the intentional killing of a soldier – often a superior officer – by his own men. The term was coined during the Vietnam war after a handful of reports on such incidents became public, sometimes with a fragmentation grenade.

Russian forces have met unexpectedly heavy resistance since the invasion began. In about a month of fighting, between 7,000 and 15,000 Russians have been killed in Ukraine. That is more deaths than the U.S. suffered at the 36-day Battle of Iwo Jima.