Russia to send mobile crematoriums to Ukraine to conceal evidence of casualties: Report

As Russia gears up to deploy more troops to Ukraine, there are reports that Moscow could also dispatch mobile crematoriums in its arsenal in order to conceal the evidence of casualties in the war Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed against Kyiv. The speculations come after the British Ministry of Defence shared a video of Russian portable incinerators that they claimed would be sent at tails of the invading forces to "evaporate" deceased soldiers, The Telegraph reported.

“If I was a soldier and knew that my generals had so little faith in me that they followed me around the battlefield with a mobile crematorium, or I was the mother or father of a son, potentially deployed into a combat zone, and my government thought that the way to cover up losses was a mobile crematorium, I’d be deeply, deeply worried,” UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told the paper.

Referring to the footage from 2013 which shows a transportable crematorium for biological waste, Wallace added that "it is a very chilling side effect of how the Russians view their forces." Wallace recalled this is not the first time Russia will be dispatching mobile crematoriums "to follow troops around the battlefield." He noted, "They have done things previously", which "probably says everything you need to know about the Russian regime."

What are mobile crematoriums?

Delving into details about the bio-waste disposals, the Telegraph reported that the vehicle-mounted charnel house has a "room to evaporate" one human body at a time and has been seen trailing with Russian troops. British Defence officials suggested that with escalated Russian military actions in Ukraine, Moscow could deploy mobile crematoriums into Ukraine.

Russia has used such crematoriums back in 2015, according to US lawmakers. Former US House Armed Services Committee Chairman Max Thornberry had then told Bloomberg that " the Russians were trying to hide casualties by taking mobile crematoriums with them. They are trying to hide not only from the world but from Russian people their involvement."

According to the former Ukrainian Defence security head, Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, these vehicles can cremate "8-10 bodies per day." Speaking to Ukrainian media in 2015, Nalyvaichenko had said, "Every day, the hotline of the Security Service of Ukraine records a great number of calls from dozens of Russian citizens who are looking for their relatives or Russian soldiers who have been sent to the territory of Ukraine […] The Ukrainian government will be humane and will return the bodies of the Russian soldiers to their mothers with all documents and personal effects," Snopes reported.

[Fire is seen on Sunday morning after Russian armed forces fired missiles near Kyiv. Image: AP]

Russia-Ukraine war

Explosions rocked Ukraine from February 24, after Putin ordered full-scale military operations in Kyiv. The country witnessed rampant air attacks and on Sunday morning two simultaneous colossal blasts occurred in an oil depot and gas pipeline near Kyiv after Russian forces fired targetted missiles. Footages surfaced online showed thick mushroom clouds billowing from the impacted areas. Meanwhile, Russia continued its shelling the outskirts of the city. So far, nearly 200 have reportedly been dead in Ukraine, including 61 civilians and three children, as per the UN, which predicted that the on-ground toll is much higher. The countries step into the fourth day of devastation and destruction, pushing over millions out of their homes and thousands fleeing the country in fear of lives.

Image: AP