A video shot by a drone shows the horrific moment a Russian soldier appears to blow himself up with a grenade rather than surrender.
Vladimir Putin‘s army has faced a number of stunning military setbacks over the last week.
Ukrainian units stormed through Russian defensive lines in the Serebryansky forest, near the city of Lyman in eastern Ukraine.
Kyiv’s forces also launched a counterattack in Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region, cutting off Russian units and taking dozens of prisoners.
In the footage, a Russian soldier who appears injured, can be seen sitting in a trench on his own.
At first it seems he tries to shoot himself with his rifle but cannot point it properly towards himself.
He then decides to detonate a grenade, which creates a cloud of thick black smoke that consumes him.
The video was posted to X by a Ukrainian defence analyst who uses the handle “Cloooud”.
In a caption attached to the video, they wrote: “Instead of surrendering, the Russian invader made a better choice…First tried to commit it by AK, but then chose grenade…”
No information is provided as to where the incident happened or when.
Putin has brought in tough new laws designed to punish soldiers who voluntarily surrender.
The new legislation was enacted back in September 2022, which allows Russian courts to hand down a sentence of up to ten years for so-called “voluntary surrender”.
Ukraine‘s military intelligence launched a hotline called “I want to live” in September 2022 to help Russian troops or their units surrender to the Ukrainian military.
Vitalii Matviienko, a military intelligence spokesperson, said in January that more than 220 Russian soldiers had surrendered using the hotline as of December 2023.
Putin’s army also has deployed barrier troops to prevent soldiers from deserting during battle.
These units can summarily shoot anyone trying to flee the slaughter on the frontlines.