Ukrainian intelligence claims that two Russian servicemen died after eating toxic pies handed to them by Ukrainian residents.
The troops from the Third Motor Rifle Division are claimed to have perished quickly after being offered the treats as ‘gifts’ by Izium villagers.
Another 28 Russians were alleged to have been sent to intensive care following the poisoning, with hundreds more said to be suffering from “serious sickness” as a result of the tainted food and drink.
On Saturday, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense Intelligence issued the following statement: “Ukrainians are resisting the occupiers with whatever means at their disposal.
“According to current information, people of the Izium area (Kharkiv region) ‘treated’ Russians from the Russian Federation’s third Motorized Rifle Division with poisoned pies.
“As a result, two occupants died at the same time, and another 28 were admitted to the intensive care unit. Their current situation is being investigated.”
“Around 500 additional troops of the Russian Federation’s third Motorized Rifle Division are in hospitals owing to serious alcohol intoxication of unknown origin,” it continued.
Izium is anticipated to witness further fighting in the coming weeks, as Putin is said to be reorganising his soldiers for conflicts in eastern Ukraine.
According to the Daily Mail, soldiers might use the town near the Russian border as a base for raids into the Donbas.
Control of the city would also allow the Russians to separate Ukraine’s southern soldiers from those battling in the north.
It comes after Ukraine declared that it had retaken control of the Kyiv area, with Russian soldiers retreating from the capital and Chernigiv city.
Ukrainian officials said on Saturday that their forces had retaken control of more than 30 towns and villages in the Kyiv area, claiming total control of the capital region for the first time since Russia started its assault.
“The whole Kyiv region has been liberated from the invader,” stated Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar on Facebook.
But there is just too much sadness in the country to celebrate.
‘CRUEL WAR CRIMES’
Today, graphic photographs revealed victims dressed in civilian attire lying in the streets of Bucha, 23 miles northwest of the city.
At least nine of the dead seemed to have been executed, according to AFP journalists on the scene.
Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the “cruel war crimes,” adding that individuals had been shot with their hands bound.
Meanwhile, Anatoliy Fedoruk, the mayor of Bucha, said 300 of his town’s citizens had been slaughtered during a month-long Russian occupation, with the bulk of dead now thrown into a mass grave.
Last night, Liz Truss expressed her outrage at the horrors, calling the “targeting of innocent civilians despicable.”
The Foreign Secretary went on to say that the UK was trying to gather evidence and support for the International Criminal Court’s investigation into possible war crimes.
