A video circulating online showed several Chechen militants raiding the “MegaFon” cell phone store in the village of Glushkovo after it was evacuated a few days ahead of the Ukrainian advance in the Kursk region of Russia.
In the video posted on the “Typical Kursk” Telegram channel, bearded men in Russian military uniforms are seen breaking the store's windows and removing items from the store.
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The men that appear in the Aug. 17 footage are thought to be from the Chechens from the “Akhmat”battalion. They are seen to enter the store through a window and to start breaking down doors using a fire extinguisher.
Over the course of half an hour, the militants smashed display cases and removed household appliances, including power supplies. The video also shows Chechens taking phones from the store shelves and throwing them out through the broken window.
The Russian media outlet “Agentstvo,” confirmed that at least one of the criminals served in the Chechen 249th Separate Special Motorized Battalion “South” of the Grozny Regiment of the Russian National Guard unit, after its journalists found footage of the militant posing with the regimental commander Khuseyn Mezhidov.
Chechen fighters have been heavily criticized after they failed in their duty to defend Russia’s border region from Ukraine’s advance.
The veracity of the video was confirmed by acting governor of Kursk region, Roman Alyokhin, who wrote on Telegram: “The looters have names and surnames, and each one must be held personally responsible for their crimes, not the people or the entire unit. These two scum are already facing consequences!”
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He called for sending him information about other looting incidents, promising to “deal with them harshly.”
He also added that “every scum who put on the Russian military uniform, took the oath, and then stole or destroyed Russian citizens’ property, regardless of nationality, must be held accountable according to wartime laws!”
The assault on Kursk region has been ongoing since Aug 6. Moscow has declared a “counter-terrorist operation” in the Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk regions. Belgorod region, also under Ukrainian assault, is now declared to be under a federal state of emergency.
According to the President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian Defense Forces’ operation in the Kursk region is proceeding as planned, with Ukrainian defenders currently strengthening their positions.
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