According to reports, Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin are sending execution squads after their own army, with orders to kill any Russians who try to flee.

Ukraine’s security services claim that prisoners of war have informed them of the heinous tactic, which has reportedly resulted in Russian guns being pointed at their own people.

According to The Mail Online, the ‘execution squads’ are a revival of Stalin’s World War II tactics and yet another sign of low morale among Moscow’s troops.

There have also been reports of Chechen troops being sent in to apprehend Russian deserters.

Since the Russian invasion began on February 24, Kyiv has released videos of Russian captives speaking on camera about their decision to surrender rather than fight.

Throughout the invasion, Ukraine has sought to exploit low Russian morale by waging its own propaganda war to promote success stories.

They have bombarded Russian phone numbers with texts instructing them on how to surrender, and a tank commander reportedly responded positively a few days ago.

“He didn’t see the point of war,” said Victor Andrusiv, an adviser to the minister of internal affairs.

After all of the other troops in the tank had fled back to Russia, a rendezvous was agreed upon, and the tank commander was taken away.

“He couldn’t return home because his commander told him he’d shoot him dead and say he died in battle,” Mr Andrusiv explained.

“Misha told us that he had almost no food left, that the command structure was chaotic and almost non-existent, and that morale was very low.”

Mr. Andrusiv made the claims on social media yesterday as part of the ongoing communication war between the two parties.