Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Widespread looting of Russian civilian homes and businesses by Russian troops in the Kursk region is being directed by Russian officers for their personal profit, according to a Russian marine who has fought in the area. ⬇️

https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1851549278994412011

2/ A large part of the Kursk region, beyond that occupied by Ukrainian forces, has been evacuated by Russia to make it into a closed military zone. However, residents have reported many instances of their properties being ransacked by their 'defenders'.

3/ A Russian contract soldier who has been fighting in the Kursk region with the 155th Marine Brigade has been speaking with the independent Russian outlet The Insider. He was sent there after being wounded in a 'meat assault' which left only 7 survivors out of 100 men.

4/ The soldier was sent to Glushkovo, a village which is outside the zone held by Ukraine but has nonetheless been looted thoroughly by the defending Russian forces and damaged by exchanges of fire.

5/ "There was no one there any more: the locals had evacuated, the area was destroyed. ... In Glushkovo, where the locals evacuated and left everything as it was, looting began: we broke into apartments, robbed pharmacies, broke windows in supermarkets, behaved like barbarians.

6/ "In the forested areas you can find supermarket carts, food packaging, candy wrappers - now all the forests there are littered with garbage.

7/ "The commanders forced us to do this, but they presented it in such a way that we ourselves needed it and that we were breaking into apartments and robbing stores of our own free will.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1823003072177553458

8/ "For example, you had to break into an apartment to find slippers or blankets there to make your own beds. And then it turned out that you had to take out a bed for the commander or a nightstand. We took out the equipment that was needed: somewhere a laptop, elsewhere a TV.

9/ "When the apartment was being broken into, the commander would come and see what was in it. There was a bed. He would say, "I want one of these. Come on, bring these two down to me." We would bring them.

10/ "And the next day, the commander would sit me down with him, the deputy would be next to him, and the commander would ask, "Why are you going around begging?" And what can I say?

11/ "It was he who gave the order to break into the apartment and the bed was brought out for him, right? And then, it turns out, we go around begging. What can I say to that?

Everything was taken out for immediate use, what happened next I don't know. We used it, threw it away.

12/ "We went and opened a new house and took a new one. If the carpet got dirty, there was no way to wash it, we threw it away, took another one. Satellite dishes were removed, and we adjusted them so that the commander could watch TV.

13/ "The stores were smashed to smithereens. The grocery store was completely looted in the first week – there was nothing left at all."

https://x.com/Tendar/status/1828883376129941982

14/ The soldier's account is consistent with the many complaints from local people about their properties being systematically looted. It's also reminiscent of the mass looting that Russian forces engaged in at the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1562876649791959042

15/ Back then, there were signs that the looting was harming Russian military effectiveness. Soldiers were spending time looting rather than fighting, and officers commandeered logistics trucks to transport their loot. It's likely that something similar has happened in Kursk./end

Source:
theins.ru/confession/276…