Dozens of Russian Soldiers Killed After Drinking Poisoned Vodka

Two dozen Russian soldiers have allegedly been killed by a Ukrainian partisan group who claimed it offered them poisoned vodka and other food items in occupied Crimea.

A partisan group calling itself the "Crimea Combat Seagulls" said in a post to Telegram over the weekend that it had killed 24 Russian soldiers and hospitalized 11 others after giving them the poisoned food and drinks in Simferopol, Crimea's second-largest city. Russia illegally annexed the peninsula in 2014. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to retake the territory amid the current conflict.

Ukrainian partisans have been credited with devastating attacks against Russian forces since the invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Last month, a partisan group in southeastern Ukraine's Melitopol purportedly blew up a car full of pro-Russia Chechen militants, while a train carrying ammunition and fuel to Crimea allegedly exploded after being attacked by resistance fighters in October.

The Crimea Combat Seagulls boasted in a Telegram post on Saturday that dozens of Russian troops had been duped by "nice girls" into accepting "goodies" laced with arsenic and strychnine at a military checkpoint, according to The Kyiv Post. The group urged others to emulate them by also poisoning Russians in Crimea "like cockroaches."

"Nice girls visited the checkpoint of the military unit and gave goodies to the Russian troops, but, as they say, there is a nuance," the group wrote. "The miraculous arsenic and strychnine tasted unforgettable."

"You can die of pleasure!" they continued. "What was just what 24 occupiers did, and another 11 were hospitalized. We continue to work and call on everyone to poison Russians on the peninsula like cockroaches."

The Telegram channel Kremlin Snuffbox previously shared a similar account of the alleged poisoning, calling it a "tragedy" that occurred "in one of the military units of Simferopol." The Friday post said that it was "not possible to find the criminals" responsible, though a Russian investigation was "underway."

"Two cute girls came to the checkpoint of the military unit and introduced themselves as local residents," the post states. "They brought seven bottles of vodka and some snacks—fish, sausage, bread, cheese. They told the guards that they wanted to thank our boys for everything, for protecting them. The guys took vodka and food, drank with colleagues, and ate. And many were poisoned."

The timing of the alleged poisoning is unclear. Newsweek has not independently verified that the incident took place or confirmed any of the details shared on Telegram.

Newsweek reached out for comment to the Russian Ministry of Defense via email on Monday.

The account comes just weeks after four officers of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) were reportedly poisoned after consuming delivery food from a restaurant in Melitopol. Three of the FSB officers were killed in the poisoning, while the fourth was hospitalized in intensive care.

In October, the city was also reportedly the site of the attempted poisoning of 77 Russian military graduates by a Ukrainian delivery driver, who received an initial jail sentence of 15 days after being caught giving the troops a tampered cake and whiskey during a class reunion celebration.