Morale is so low among invading Russian forces that soldiers have reportedly been shooting themselves in the legs to avoid fighting – using Ukrainian ammunition to make it appear they were hit by the defenders.

The Russian troops have been widely reported to be demoralized in the invasion, which has already claimed as many as 14,000 of them, according to the latest estimate from the Ukrainian government.

In a conversation between soldiers intercepted by Belarusian media outlet NEXTA, one Russian said, “They’ve been shooting at us for 14 days. We’re scared. We’re stealing food, breaking into houses. We’re killing civilians,” The US Sun reported.

“Russian officers shoot themselves in the legs to go home. There are corpses everywhere,” he continued.

Another soldier was heard saying that his comrades are “looking for Ukrainian ammunition in order to shoot themselves in the legs and go to hospital.”

Deserters face harsh punishment in the motherland, so using Ukrainian weapons and ammo on themselves allows them to make their self-inflicted wounds appear to be battlefield wounds, according to reports.

A soldier who called his mother back home is heard in an intercepted audio saying the disillusioned troops were using 7.62 mm bullets fired by their enemies rather than 5.62 rounds fired by their own AK-47 assault rifles, the Mirror reported.

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Captured Russian soldiers have been shown on video sobbing as they apologized for killing Ukrainian civilians, including children — and admitted that the invasion ordered by President Vladimir Putin was a “terrible mistake.”

However, footage of captured troops has raised questions about whether Ukraine is violating the Geneva Conventions, which provide POWs with protections.