Russian troops ‘drive tank over commander’ amid anger at high casualties
Colonel Yuri Medvedev is said to have suffered severe leg injuries in the attack
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Russian soldiers drove a tank over one of their senior officers after their unit suffered a massive number of losses in combat against Ukrainian forces, according to officials in the west and Kyiv.
Colonel Yuri Medvedev is said to have suffered severe leg injuries in the attack, which took place after almost half the troops in his brigade of 1,500 either died, or were wounded, in a series of clashes in the early weeks of the war.
Some of the intense fighting the 37th Brigade was involved in took place in Makariv, outside Kyiv, which the Russian forces have been trying to seize in an attempt to encircle the Ukrainian capital.
Makariv has now been recaptured from the Russians by Ukrainian troops.
It came amid western and Ukrainian claims, refuted by the Kremlin, that between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian service personnel were killed in action in the first month of the war.
Col Medvedev is said to have been airlifted to Belarus for emergency treatment and awarded a Russian military honour following the attempt on his life.
There has been no independent corroboration of the attack, but a video put out by the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, whose forces are fighting on behalf of Moscow in Ukraine, appears to show the colonel being medically evacuated.
One Chechen fighter is shown in the footage saying “hold on…how are you? OK? Talk to us…”
Medvedev replies: ‘I’m OK. Where are you from?” He is told to keep his body armour on before being unloaded on a stretcher, with blankets covering his legs.
Kadyrov claimed that Medvedev’s rescue was proof of the success of Vladimir Putin’s so-called ‘de-Nazification’ plan in Ukraine. “There are no more threats to his [ Medvedev’s] life. I hope he’ll soon be back on his feet", wrote the Chechen leader.
The incident was first reported by Roman Tsymbaliuk, a Ukrainian journalist. He said in a Facebook post that “a soldier, choosing a convenient moment during the battle, ran over his brigade commander, Colonel Yuri Medvedev, with a tank, injuring both his legs.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments