Russia has impounded hundreds of boobytrapped boot insoles intended for Vladimir Putin’s foot soldiers, say the Federal Security Service (FSB).
The ‘heated’ insoles for use in cold weather were rigged with enough explosives to blow off a victim’s limbs, it is alleged.
Russian counterintelligence blames Ukrainian secret services for a ploy to maim up to 504 soldiers.
‘A foreign national born in 1994 has been detained in Russia.,’ said the FSB.
‘He was involved in the smuggling of weapons to Russia from Poland through Belarus, organised by Ukrainian intelligence agencies.’
The power of the concealed explosives in the insole pairs was 1.5 grams in TNT equivalent,’ said the FSB.
‘Detonation occurs when the insoles are connected to a power source and is designed to sever a part of a serviceman’s limb when they are used during combat missions.’
The insoles were in a consignment of ‘humanitarian aid’, it was alleged.
‘The shoe insoles were supposed to be sent to Russian troops stationed in the special military operation zone disguised as humanitarian aid,’ reported TASS.
The detained man – from Tajikistan – was a courier for the explosive insoles, said the FSB.
Ukraine also staged a daring bid to obtain drones in Moscow which could have been loaded with explosives and deployed against targets in the Russian capital, it was alleged.
‘In the event of equipping them with explosive devices, Ukrainian special services would have obtained powerful means of terror, which they planned to use against designated targets in Moscow,’ said a statement.
It comes after harrowing footage compiled by the Daily Mail revealed the sadistic treatment Putin’s soldiers are enduring on the frontlines in Ukraine.
Graphic videos show commanders beating and electrocuting their own troops, denying them food, forcing them to crawl through mud, tying them naked to trees in sub-zero temperatures and even making them fight to the death.
Other footage shows injured soldiers on crutches being sent back to the frontline. In separate clips, troops sheltering in Ukrainian dugouts film themselves surviving on stolen potatoes because their own army has not supplied them with food.
Commanders are sending their men into so-called ‘meat storm’ battles, likened to suicide missions, where troops are thrown at Ukrainian positions until they run out of ammunition.
Those who flee or refuse orders face brutal punishment.
One video shows two naked men lying in a pit as their commander screams at them and fires bullets into the ground nearby. ‘Lay there for a few more days until you understand how to follow orders,’ the commander shouts.
Another shows two men forced to crawl through mud while commanders kick dirt at them and strike them in the head.
The commander is heard yelling ‘are you still going to be sick?’ while beating him.
In a Telegram message seen by the Daily Mail alongside the footage, an anonymous soldier wrote: ‘The 132nd brigade is a force to be reckoned with. They are completely off the rails. This is what they do to servicemen who undergo medical treatment.
‘It is nothing but humiliation, beatings and abuse.’
The footage emerged as Russia faced its deadliest day in the war this year last week on March 17, with 1,700 killed or wounded in 24 hours, according to Ukraine’s general staff.
