A RUSSIAN colonel was killed in a tank by his own men after leading them to massive losses on the battlefield.

According to Western officials, mutinous troops purposefully crushed their commander, believed to be Yuri Medvedev of the 37th Motor Rifle Brigade.

Col Medvedev was seen being stretchered to a hospital in Belarus earlier this week after being hit by a car in Makariv, near Kyiv.

His legs were crushed by the tank, but he was expected to survive.

Officials in the West now believe he died as a result of his injuries.

“The brigade commander was killed by his own troops, we believe, as a result of the scale of losses suffered by his brigade,” one source said today.

“We believe he was assassinated on purpose by his own troops. We believe he was killed by his own troops.”

“That just gives an insight into perhaps some of the morale challenges that Russian forces are facing,” the official added.

They also confirmed the death of ANOTHER of Putin’s top generals, as defiant Ukraine pushes back the Russian war machine.

Lieutenant General Yakov Rezantsev led Russia’s 49th Combined Arms Army and is the war’s seventh high-ranking casualty.

Top Moscow officers are increasingly being slotted after getting too close to the battlefield in frustration over their slow advance.

According to reports, the officer has been awarded the Order of Courage.

Footage shows him being unloaded from the back of an armoured vehicle as Chechen fighters question him “How are you doing? Okay? Why don’t you contact us? “..