Russia Soldier Kills 10 Comrades in Own Unit, Goes AWOL: Report

A former Russian prisoner, who joined Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, shot dead 10 of his comrades as they slept and he then went on the run.

The Telegram channel Spy Dossier, which is said to have links to Russia's special services, posted that Maxim Fedorchenko, 33, was with his unit near the village of Novopokrovka, in Ukraine's southern Zaporozhizhia region, when the alleged incident happened. Newsweek has emailed the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.

There have been numerous reports of Russian soldiers opening fire on each other amid accounts of low morale and unhappiness over the quality of command and payments, which have not been received by personnel during the war started by Putin.

Fedorchenko, a private with the 2nd assault company of Russia's 38th separate motorized rifle brigade, threw a grenade into the dugout and then opened fire, "shooting 10 sleeping servicemen from his unit and fled in the direction of Polohy," the post, also on X, formerly Twitter, said.

Appeals for his whereabouts has been issued around Melitopol, but "the search for the fugitive soldier continues," the post added.

The Telegram post, also reported by Ukrainian outlets, was put next to photo identification of Fedorchenko. It described how he was married with no children and had the call sign Barabash, the same name of the village in Russia's far eastern region of Primorsky he hailed from.

The post said he had not been in the military prior to the war and, before signing his contract, he had served four years and six months in a maximum-security colony in the Primorsky city of Ussuriysk.

In reporting the incident, the Spy Dossier post listed other instances of Russian troops killing their own. On October 25, Dmitry Slepnev, a captain with the 2nd Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 810th Separate Marine Brigade, was shot in the head three times by an AK-47 fired by a private named as Alexander Ryabov.

It followed a verbal altercation during a meeting at an observation post in the village of Kremyanoye, Kursk region, where Ukraine has staged an incursion since August 6.

Before Ukraine's incursion, a Russian conscript opened fire on his fellow soldiers in the Kursk in March 2023, killing a comrade in the 37th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, according to local media reports.

In May 2024, a manhunt was launched in Russia's border regions for a 57-year-old junior sergeant after shooting six servicemen of the howitzer artillery battalion in Ukraine's so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), which Putin has claimed to have annexed.

Meanwhile, a former acting platoon commander, Sergeant Dmitry Lobovikov, was accused of killing seven of his subordinates and injuring at least 10 others during New Year celebrations in 2023.