Bodies of dead Russian soldiers piled high, war loot seen in Sumy

It’s estimated nearly 20,000 Russian soldiers have died in the nation’s assault on Ukraine, with piles of bodies and stolen items found near abandoned vehicles.

Bodies of dead Russian troops abandoned by their comrades have been found abandoned in eastern Ukraine, in the latest sign that Russia’s chaotic invasion is in disarray.

Video from the site of a destroyed armoured personnel carrier shows frying pans, drills, and even children’s toys apparently looted by Putin’s soldiers.

The troops were allegedly ambushed in Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, close to the Russian border, The Sun reports.

Dead Russian paratroopers piled up after an ambush in Sumy, northeastern Ukraine. Picture: Ukrainian Military.

Julian Ropcke, a journalist with the German publication BILD, shared video and pictures of the scene.

“These Russians stole pans, toys, drills,” he tweeted. “But for this group, the raid in Sumy ended in death.”

Grisly photos showed the 10-man crew killed with their bodies piled up alongside their vehicle.

The video purports to show the ordinary goods looted by Russian soldiers, including unopened frying pans and children’s toys.

The Russian armoured personnel carrier lies destroyed beside them. Picture: Ukrainian Military.

It comes as the Russian death toll in Ukraine reportedly nears 20,000.

Ukrainian forces have reclaimed much of the territory conquered by Russia in the early days of the war in late February and early March.

Putin’s army have been completely driven out of the capital Kyiv and the key northern city of Chernihiv.

However, “low-level” fighting is continuing as the Kremlin reportedly refocuses its efforts on the Donbas in eastern Ukraine.

Up to 60,000 reservists are said to have been prepared to provide reinforcements to the battered Russian army.

The governor of Luhansk, Sergiy Gaiday, warned Russia is planning a major new offensive in his region as he ordered a mass evacuation.

“We understand that they are preparing for a full-scale big breakthrough,” he said. “Please don’t wait for your homes to be bombed.”

Refugees from the Luhansk region seen at the border crossing in Medyka, eastern Poland. Picture: Wojtek Radwanski/ AFP)

A nitric acid tank in the town of Rubizhne, Luhansk, has been shelled, with authorities urging people to stay at home and keep their windows shut.

Both sides have blamed each other for the attack, which has released a red and brown cloud of poisonous smoke over the town of more than 50,000 people.

Ukraine’s general staff accused Russia of using banned cluster munitions again in Mykolaiv, targeting civilian buildings including a children’s hospital, killing 11 and wounding 61.

British defence officials have said “low-level fighting is likely to continue in some of the newly-recaptured regions, but diminish significantly over this week as the remainder of Russian forces withdraw” from Kyiv and Chernihiv.

In an online intelligence update, the UK says many Russian units “are likely to require significant re-equipping and refurbishment before being available to redeploy for operations in eastern Ukraine”.

Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko has urged civilians not to return to the city for “at least another week,” as many explosives remain around the capital.

Ukraine’s civilian death toll is continuing to rise, with 5,000 dying in the southern city of Mariupol alone.

A Russian general dubbed “the Butcher of Mariupol” Mikhail Mizintsev has admitted that Russia has executed 93 people, but claimed they were militants “disguised” as civilians.

As Russian troops withdraw from around the capital, evidence of alleged war crimes is being found by Ukrainian forces.

Bodies of Ukrainian civilians were left strewn on the road after Russian troops retreated from the town west of Kyiv last week.

The stolen goods were found next to the abandoned Russian vehicle. Picture: Telegram.

Looted frying pans were among the goods taken by Russian soldiers. Picture: Telegram.

More than 400 were executed by Russia’s soldiers in Bucha, in actions branded as “genocide” by international observers.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky fought back tears as he surveyed the brutal aftermath in the town, where bodies were found in mass graves and butchered in basements.

Amid the horror, individual moments of brutality have stood out.

Harrowing footage shows a distraught Ukrainian mum uncovering her daughter’s shallow grave after she was shot dead on the first day of the Russian occupation.

Heartbroken Antonina Pomazanko was forced to dig a grave for her daughter and cover it with wooden boards out of desperation.

Ukrainian soldiers also uncovered what they claimed were Russian “torture chambers” set up in their military headquarters to abuse and murder civilians in Bucha.

In the basement of a building in the woods outside the town, the bodies of five men were discovered.

Each had been shot in the back of the head execution-style after their hands were tied behind them.

Policemen and city workers carry six partially burnt bodies into body bags as reporters attend in the town of Bucha. Picture: Genya Savilov/ AFP)

Heavily-mutilated bodies were discovered in the basement of a children’s camp in Bucha.

Ukrainian officials have warned that Bucha may be only “the tip of the iceberg”.

President Zelensky has called for more weapons to be sent to Ukraine, as Russia accuses the UK of escalating the war amid rising tensions.

While the 64th Motorised Rifle Brigade, who were blamed for the Bucha massacre, are said to be returning to Ukraine days after their alleged war crimes.

The Ukrainian military said the battalion, from the 35th All-Russian Army, is being transported to Belgorod in Russia on Wednesday, after which it will be deployed back to the frontline near Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv.

This post was originally published on The Sun and has been republished with permission