Vladimir Putin’s soldiers in eastern Ukraine’s Kupiansk are reportedly falling sick because of a “mouse fever” outbreak – a viral disease that has left the invading Russian troops severely unwell.
The outbreak of the so-called “mouse fever” has been recorded in many units of the Russian forces in the Kupiansk direction, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence’s main directorate of intelligence said on its official Telegram channel.
“The disease is viral in nature and is transmitted to humans from rodents through direct contact with a causative agent as a result of inhaling dust from mouse excrement or getting it into food products consumed by humans,” it said.
Symptoms of this fever “mowing down” Russian soldiers include vomiting, severe headache, fever up to 40 degrees celsius (104 degrees fahrenheit), rashes, redness, plummeting blood pressure, haemorrhages in the eyes and nausea.
Ukraine’s intelligence wing said dissatisfaction was growing among Russian soldiers who are facing abandonment on medical assistance and provision of winter items, and the recent fever outbreak was an example of Russia’s inability to look after its troops fighting in Ukraine.
The disease is also affecting the kidneys, as the infected Russian troops were facing intense pain in their lower back and have severe difficulty in urinating, officials said.
“Complaints about fever from personnel of the Russian army, who are involved in the war against Ukraine, were ignored by the command, regarding them as another manifestation of evasion from participating in combat operations. In addition, at the first stage of the course, "mouse fever" resembles an ordinary flu,” the statement added.
“As a result, mouse fever significantly reduced the fighting ability of Russian rats."
Russian forces invading Ukraine have long battled neglect from their companies, commanders and Moscow.
Last month, secretly recorded calls of Russian soldiers speaking from the frontlines in Ukraine with loved ones back home recounted gory details of survival in the war trenches.
One man who was swept up in September mobilisation last year asked people to “avoid this war any way you can”. He said he lived off rainwater, scooped a dying man’s guts back into his body, ambushed a Ukrainian dugout with knives. “I already feel more pity shooting a bird than a person. I’m telling you honestly, if there’s even a slight chance, get exempted from service,” he said.
Another soldier nicknamed Andrei concluded that his life meant nothing to Moscow.
Mobilised soldiers like him are “not considered humans”, he told his mother in intercepted calls. They’re not allowed to leave – even if they get sick or injured – because commanders fear they’ll never come back. “You’ll die in this pit where you live,” he told her. “Better not get sick,” she said.
