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Putin's desperate troops care more about looting than fighting in Ukraine

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Putin's desperate troops care more about looting than fighting in Ukraine
Putin's desperate troops care more about looting than fighting in Ukraine

SCURRYING away with their swag piled in high in a stolen pram - three Russian soldiers are seen making off with loot they've pinched from houses in Ukraine.

With one running up ahead laden down with his plunder, another appearing to push a load in a baby buggy, and a third running along behind - it is an unbelievable scene.

Video shows the moment three Russians scurry away with their stolen loot eiqrrideiukprw
Video shows the moment three Russians scurry away with their stolen loot
Phones, watches and money taken from a captured Russian officer
Phones, watches and money taken from a captured Russian officer
CCTV shows Russian soldiers clearing out a supermarket in Ukraine
CCTV shows Russian soldiers clearing out a supermarket in Ukraine
A Russian tank piled high with loot - including a boiler & Disney bed clothes
A Russian tank piled high with loot - including a boiler & Disney bed clothesCredit: REUTERS
Russian soldiers making off with a safe in Kherson
Russian soldiers making off with a safe in Kherson

But according to experts it is one that is now commonplace in the war ravaged towns and villages of Ukraine.

The footage - understood to have been filmed last September in Kherson - offers a brief insight into the failing morale, desperation and sheer criminality of Mad Vlad's troops.

Videos of Russian soldiers looting from Ukrainian homes have gone viral on social media as the Russian army continues to flounder in Ukraine.

Putin accused of surrounding himself with same 'actors' at series of eventsPutin accused of surrounding himself with same 'actors' at series of events

Outrageous stories have emerged of Vlad's men plundering homes, shops, banks and pretty much making away with anything that is not nailed down.

Footage even emerged earlier in the war of Russian soldiers in Belarus sending the spoils of their plundering back home to their families.

Many of Putin's troops are losing interest in fighting in Ukraine - instead using the war as an opportunity to line their own pockets, said Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko.

The official advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, has told The Sun Online that morale is at rocket bottom for the Russians.

Mr Gerashchenko said: "Morale among the Russian troops is low because they are thrown into fighting without proper equipment, uniform and planning.

"They have no idea why they are fighting at all. However, none of them as well as Russian population in general, seem to be capable of mass protests."

For the poorer parts of Russian society, the interest in the Ukraine war is less ideological, but more economical, he said.

Mr Gerashchenko continued: "We see that many Russians who come to war in Ukraine use this for looting and material gains.

"This is their motivation."

Many Russian soldiers come from very poor villages, and they view war as opportunity to profit

Catholics across the world pray for Pope Benedict XVI as his body lies in stateCatholics across the world pray for Pope Benedict XVI as his body lies in state Anton Gerashchenko

The Institute for War and Peace Reporting revealed an ongoing case involving 18 Russian soldiers suspected of sending looted goods from Ukrainian territories to Russia. 

Stolen items were reportedly posted through the Belarusian town of Mazyr in April, just two months after the war began.

The packages were sent to Rubstovsk, Moscow, Birobidzhan and Omsk in Russia.

And one staggering photo shows a Russian tank emblazoned with the infamous white "Z" piled high with goods stolen from Ukraine.

Ukrainian refugee Alina Koreniuk actually spotted the loot had been taken from her house - including her brand new boiler, her tablecloth and her children's Disney bedsheets.

Ukrainian Advisor Anton Gerashchenko says Russians don't know why they're fighting anymore
Ukrainian Advisor Anton Gerashchenko says Russians don't know why they're fighting anymoreCredit: Getty
CCTV shows Russian troops in Belarus sending home stolen goods
CCTV shows Russian troops in Belarus sending home stolen goods
The soldiers grin as they look over their items
The soldiers grin as they look over their items

Mr Gerashchenko told The Sun Online: "National police of Ukraine and international prosecutors are working very hard to document the numerous cases of Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

"These crimes include murders, wounds, destructions and looting."

He went on: "Many Russian soldiers come from very poor villages, and they view war as opportunity to profit.

"We also see that Russian propaganda promotes war as a chance to earn good money: pay off debts, buy a car, bring looted things back to your family.

"There have been many documented cases when looting is a well organized and set up process starting from packing and loading things into truck up to them being sent to Russia.

"I've already told the story of my friend who lived near Kyiv.

"Absolutely everything was taken out of her home - up to dishes, underwear and towels.  And there are a lot of similar stories."

Mr Gerashchenko remains confident of a Ukrainian victory - even as the Russian troops loot their way across his nation.

He said: "Russia will retreat when it is defeated completely by Ukrainian Army.

"And when it cannot win on the battlefield, it starts attacking civilian infrastructure."

Article 8 of the Statute of International Criminal Court provides that in international warfare, pillaging a town is a war crime.

Looting began early on in the war, with videos posted on Telegram channels as early as late February.

In one video, Russian soldiers were seen robbing a bank and making off with a safe in the Kherson region, which has seen some of the most intense fighting since the conflict began.

Another video showed a Russian soldier carrying a child's backpack after looting a small home.

Mr Gerashchenko posted the video and said: "Images of looting which is regular practice for Russian army."

Sir Howard Andrew Clive Morrison, British lawyer, former Judge of the International Criminal Court and UK advisor on war crimes to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General spoke to The Sun Online about the looting.

He said: "The hard reality is that these are not easy offences to prosecute. Murder and rape and other horribly serious offences may actually be easier because of the ability to find incriminating forensic scientific evidence.

"Even today works of art that were looted in the Second World War are being discovered, and in some cases returned to the families of the rightful owners.

"At the very least you are talking months, and possibly years, before successful prosecutions can be brought."

This isn't the first conflict in which Russian soldiers have committed war crimes by looting homes and museums.

Between 1996-2000, in neighbouring Chechnya, Russian soldiers were filmed looting homes of those who fled from the bloody conflict.

James Rodgers, author of "Assignment Moscow", and lecturer at City, University of London, reported on the wars in Chechnya in the 1990s and early 2000s for the BBC.

He told The Sun Online: "Civilians in Chechnya would often tell stories of looting, but were usually too terrified to talk on camera.

"You would also hear Russian soldiers talking of how—incredible as this may seem—they were selling petrol and other military supplies, things that could have ended up in the hands of their enemies.

"Even senior officers seemed to look at the campaign as a way of making themselves rich. It seemed to be an accepted, even expected, part of being deployed to a war zone."

Rodgers' colleague, Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, wrote about corruption and looting by Russian troops.

Politkovskaya was murdered in 2006 in her Moscow apartments' elevator.

She was known for opposition in the Chechnya conflict and for her overt criticism of Putin and his crimes.

Looting was a common practice in Chechnya, where Russian soldiers terrorised citizens
Looting was a common practice in Chechnya, where Russian soldiers terrorised citizensCredit: AFP
Ana Politkovskaya was assassinated for bringing crimes committed by Russians in Chechnya to light
Ana Politkovskaya was assassinated for bringing crimes committed by Russians in Chechnya to lightCredit: Getty

Sarah Hooper

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