Putin’s crack team.. hiding in ambulance
Forces use Red Cross as cover in exercise 6 miles from Norway
RUSSIAN special forces used ambulances bearing the Red Cross symbol to practise ambush techniques, in a “horrific” breach of the Geneva Convention.
Vladimir Putin’s commandos were seen at Pechenga, six miles from the Russian border with Norway, using the ambulances to conceal heavy weapons.
The training exercise also involved troops pouring out of one of the “Red Cross” vehicles to attack “enemy” forces.
Russia is a signatory to the Geneva Convention, which protects the wounded and sick during war.
Retired British Army Colonel Simon Diggins said: “War is bloody and it is awful. One of the few shreds of humanity and decency in war is the respect held for the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
“These symbols represent a chance for all parties to treat people with humanity and to misuse these symbols is nothing short of a war crime. It makes me both angry and sad that they would do this and I believe it is a great betrayal of the Russian people too.”
The former British defence attache to Afghanistan added: “That someone would misuse a symbol of good in armed conflict is ghastly beyond belief.” Photographs of the exercise appeared on the Russian MoD website.
It said the 61st Naval Infantry Spetsnaz Reconnaissance Group were “developing skills in making nonstandard decisions in a dynamically changing environment”. It said: “Unit commanders made unexpected adjustment during tactical training.”
Thousands more Russian troops have recently been sent to the border with East Ukraine amid fears of a massive escalation in fighting. Many Russian operations in Syria included air strikes on medical facilities.
Dr Saleyha Ahsan, an ex-British Army officer and now director at the Action On Armed Violence charity, said: “This way of practising war-fighting breaks all of the rules that have been so sacred to me and other armed forces personnel.
“When I was at Sandhurst training to be an officer we were given the Geneva Convention and in Bosnia we carried it everywhere. This is something we held very sacred, that we protected.
“I cannot begin to tell you how shocked I am that this is happening.
“There is a grave, terrible threat to the sanctity of healthcare work in conflict and Russian forces appear to be normalising it by training to break the rules. They are practising this for future wars.”