NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Russia-Ukraine war: Russian soldier reportedly runs over his commander with tank in protest

NZ Herald
25 Mar, 2022 12:24 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A Russian soldier reportedly drove over his colonel with a tank. Photo / Supplied

A Russian soldier reportedly drove over his colonel with a tank. Photo / Supplied

A Russian soldier has reportedly driven over his own colonel with a tank after growing angry about the bungled war in Ukraine.

Anger among Russian soldiers is growing, with two other service members caught venting about strongman Vladimir Putin's "bulls**t " invasion of Ukraine amid reports of heavy losses.

The calls were intercepted and translated before being shared over social media.

The Russian soldier, who ran over his superior, was behind the wheel of the tank and "blamed the commander of the group, Col. Yury Medvedev, for the deaths of his friends," Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsimbalyuk said on Facebook.

A Russian soldier reportedly drove over his colonel with a tank. Photo / Supplied
A Russian soldier reportedly drove over his colonel with a tank. Photo / Supplied
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Having waited for the right moment, during battle, he ran over the commander with a tank as he stood next to him, injuring both his legs," he wrote.

"Now Col. Medvedev is in a hospital in Belarus, waiting for monetary compensation for combat wounds received during the 'special military operation to protect the Donbass.' Colonel Medvedev was awarded the Order of Courage," he wrote.

Although there was no independent corroboration of the claim, footage released by Chechen leader and close Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov showed Medvedev being transported to a hospital, the New York Post reports.

Wounded Russian Col. Yury Medvedev is carried off after the incident. Photo / Twitter
Wounded Russian Col. Yury Medvedev is carried off after the incident. Photo / Twitter

In the call intercepted and broadcast on social media, one soldier was heard saying "it is a s**t show here", claiming it to be disorganised, worse than the Chechnyan war and also said Russian planes had dropped bombs on their own soldiers.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The soldier described how Ukrainian troops "tore apart" a column of Russian forces and says 50 per cent of his unit suffered from frostbite to the feet.

"But they don't plan to treat them in the [field] hospital," he said.

Intercepted call between #Russian soldiers in #Ukraine: "It’s a sh*tshow … They couldn’t even send off the 200s here. They rode with us for 5 days.

Even in Chechnya, there was nothing like this, this is a madhouse."https://t.co/fOOWNEuihr pic.twitter.com/CTn2pltVVZ

— Julie Laumann 🌻 (@Otpor17) March 24, 2022

The service member also said their commander, Lieutenant General Yakov Rezantsev, told them on the fourth day of their deployment that the war would be over quickly.

"Do you know what he told us? 'It's no secret to anyone that there are only a few hours until this special operation is over.' And now those hours are still going," the soldier said.

A video appears to show Ukrainian tanks firing at Russian forces on the streets of the besieged port city Mariupol. Photo / Supplied
A video appears to show Ukrainian tanks firing at Russian forces on the streets of the besieged port city Mariupol. Photo / Supplied

In the phone call, soldiers also said that their complaints that their armoured vests lacked hardened panels were ignored.

They also complained their boss had abandoned them for days.

"'Comrade General, damn it, I have this situation,'" he recalled soldiers telling the general. "And he just says, 'Son, be strong,' and then he f**k off. It's such trash here … our own plane dropped a bomb on us."

He added that "even in Chechnya, there was nothing like this … this 'special operation,' damn it … with respect to homes not meant to be destroyed … it's bulls**t,"

On Wednesday, Nato estimated that 7000 to 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in four weeks of war in Ukraine, where fierce resistance from the country's defenders has denied Moscow the lightning victory it sought.

By way of comparison, Russia lost about 15,000 troops over 10 years in Afghanistan.
"They couldn't even send off the 200s here," he reportedly said, using a Russian military term for dead bodies. "They rode with us for five days."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

Syrian doctor gets life sentence in Germany for slayings, torture under Assad

17 Jun 06:00 PM
Premium
World

How Peter Mutabazi turned a childhood of hardship into hope for foster kids

17 Jun 06:00 PM
World

Venezuela's El Dorado, where gold is currency of the poor

17 Jun 06:00 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Syrian doctor gets life sentence in Germany for slayings, torture under Assad

Syrian doctor gets life sentence in Germany for slayings, torture under Assad

17 Jun 06:00 PM

The prosecution of Alaa Mousa relied on the legal concept of universal jurisdiction.

Premium
How Peter Mutabazi turned a childhood of hardship into hope for foster kids

How Peter Mutabazi turned a childhood of hardship into hope for foster kids

17 Jun 06:00 PM
Venezuela's El Dorado, where gold is currency of the poor

Venezuela's El Dorado, where gold is currency of the poor

17 Jun 06:00 PM
Premium
Israel Iran conflict: Pentagon expands its Middle East response

Israel Iran conflict: Pentagon expands its Middle East response

17 Jun 05:00 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP