Three of Putin’s troops are killed and two others wounded in alcohol-fuelled row

Three of Vladimir Putin’s men were shot dead and two others were wounded after an alcohol-fuelled row between Russian soldiers and security agents from Russia’s FSB spy agency turned into a gunfight in Ukraine. 

Junior Sergeant Igor Sudin, 31, shot dead two FSB officers, Igor Yakubinsky and Sergei Privalov, in the occupied city of Kherson after they caught him drinking alcohol while in uniform, according to a Moscow military investigation.

Sudin’s drinking partner, Sergeant Sergei Obukhov, 28, was also killed in the shootout at the Food Fuel cafe in Kherson at about 8pm on June 19, according to documents obtained by Yahoo News. 

Four FSB officers – Yakubinsky, Privalov, D.A. Borodin and an unidentified agent – had entered the cafe when they found Sudin and Obukhov ‘idly spending time, consuming alcoholic drinks,’ according to the Russian Investigative Committee’s Military Investigations Department. 

The FSB agents argued with the two soldiers for drinking alcohol while in uniform and the argument escalated when Obukhov fired rounds from his sidearm into the floor.

In a chaotic scene, Sudin then began firing at the FSB officers with his AK-74 assault rifle while Privalov and Yakubinsky fired back. 

The FSB officers Privalov and Yakubinsky as well as Obukhov ‘died on the spot’ while Borodin and Sudin were hospitalised. 

The fourth FSB agent, who was not named in the documents, reportedly fled the scene. 

Obukhov and Sudin served in the 8th Artillery Regiment of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

The drunken shootout, which is now subject to a criminal case, is the latest in a series of examples of poor discipline and low moral among Russian forces in Ukraine.

Russian serviceman stands near hotel Central damaged after shelling in Donetsk on 30 August (file image)

Britain’s defence minister Ben Wallace said last week that Russia has lost up to 80,000 troops since crossing the Ukrainian border on February 24, while a top Ukrainian military intelligence official cited reports of morale and physical fatigue in Russian ranks due to Moscow’s ‘exhausted’ resource base.

Residents in Kherson have claimed that Russian soldiers drink in the local bars from lunchtime before becoming aggressive.

In March, reports emerged of a Russian solider driving a tank over his commanding officer to protest the huge number of losses suffered by his unit in Ukraine.

The reports followed footage allegedly showing Russian Colonel Yuri Medvedev being stretchered into a hospital after suffering severe injuries to his legs.

According to Roman Tsymbaliuk, who was said to have been the last Ukrainian journalist in Russia before fleeing the country in January, Medvedev was run over by one of his own soldiers who was angered by heavy losses suffered by the unit.  

The believes 75,000 Russian soldiers have been killed and wounded – half the force Putin amassed before invading – and Moscow is struggling to recruit more men.

The shadowy Wagner mercenary group is said to be so desperate for recruits that Prigozhin is going in person into Russian jails looking for convicted murderers to draft into its ranks.

Conscription is also underway in occupied regions, but these troops are poorly trained and equipped and have been called ‘canon fodder’ by Ukrainian soldiers.

Putin is also being forced to turn to an ever-smaller group of allies to help, buying up to 1,000 drones from Iran and vowing to deepen ties with North Korea.