Russian troops run commander over in tank following heavy losses in Ukraine: Report

A battered and weary Russian brigade turned on its commander, running him over, a Western official said.

The colonel died following his injuries in an incident the Western official believes sheds light on possible morale challenges within Russian ranks, according to Sky News reporter Deborah Haynes, who was unable to confirm the spelling of the colonel's name but wrote it as Col. Yuri Medvechek. A senior U.S. defense official could not confirm the validity of this report to the Washington Examiner.

"The brigade commander of one of the units was killed by his own troops, we believe, as a consequence of the scale of loss that had been taken by his brigade," a Western official told Haynes. "We believe he was killed by his own troops deliberately. Indeed we believe he was run over by his own troops and I believe he was the commander of the 37 Motor Rifle Brigade."

RUSSIA SAYS IT LOST 1,351 SOLDIERS IN UKRAINE, FAR BELOW WESTERN ESTIMATES

Earlier in the week, reports surfaced from a Ukrainian journalist that the colonel, whose name some outlets spelled as Medvedev, had been rolled over by his subordinates and that he survived but that both of his legs were broken. The brigade was distraught that over 50% of its 1,500-member infantry had been killed in the war, Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsymbaliuk reported.

Video of the colonel receiving treatment for his injuries obtained by the Daily Mail from Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov purported to show him being carried into a Belarusian hospital via stretcher for treatment.

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The reports have not detailed what happened to the soldier driving the tank.

Russia launched its bloody and unprovoked assault on neighboring Ukraine a month ago. The Kremlin revealed Friday its estimate that 1,351 troops were killed and 3,825 were injured throughout the course of the war so far, a marked undercount compared to international estimates. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine calculated Russia lost 16,100 soldiers, and NATO pegged Moscow's losses between 7,000 and 15,000.