27 Russian occupiers dead, 34 injured in friendly-fire incident over mistaken belief of advance on Donetsk air
The successful advance of the Ukrainian military toward temporarily controlled Donetsk provoked a real panic among the Russian troops, which resulted in a "friendly fire" incident among their own units, Ukrainian MP Yuriy Mysiagin reported on Telegram on Sept. 10.
Their escape was so chaotic that they came under fire from their own artillery near the infamous Donetsk airport.
"Unfortunately, not everyone retreated clearly and coherently," the report said.
“Some fighters retreated to new positions chaotically and almost in a panic... (Some) decided that it was Ukrainians coming to (re)capture the Donetsk airport and launched a massive attack. The result was 27 dead and 34 wounded. Approximately half of the wounded had their arms or legs blown off. Several pieces of equipment were lost.”
The reason for the Russian attack on their own military was a serious problem with Russian communication, Ukrainian Armed Forces Colonel Kostyantyn Mashovets believes.
"For some unknown reason, the enemy artillery began to (ravage) not near the front line or behind Ukrainian positions, in order to suppress our firepower, but on the positions and rear of this (Russian) unit," he explained on his Facebook page.
“What came first — artillery fire (and who gave the order to do so), or the unauthorized withdrawal of the unit's personnel... It will obviously depend on this — who will be 'served' first.”
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