Russian troops in Melitopol plunder $5M farm vehicles from Ukraine — to seek out they’ve been remotely disabled
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But after a journey of more than 700 miles, the thieves had been unable to make use of any of the equipment -- because it had been locked remotely.
Over the past few weeks there's been a rising variety of reports of Russian troops stealing farm tools, grain and even constructing supplies - beyond widespread looting of residences. However the elimination of invaluable agricultural equipment from a John Deere dealership in Melitopol speaks to an increasingly organized operation, one which even uses Russian military transport as part of the heist.CNN has discovered that the gear was faraway from an Agrotek dealership in Melitopol, which has been occupied by Russian forces since early March. Altogether it is valued at nearly $5 million. The combine harvesters alone are value $300,000 each.
CNN is not naming a contact in Melitopol aware of the main points of the case for their own security.
The contact mentioned the method began with the seizure of two combine harvesters, a tractor and a seeder. Over the following few weeks, every little thing else was removed: in all 27 pieces of farm equipment. One of many flat-bed vehicles used, and caught on digital camera, had a white "Z" painted on it and appeared to be a army truck.
The contact said there were rival teams of Russian troops: some would come in the morning and some in the night.
A number of the machinery was taken to a nearby village, but some of it launched into a protracted overland journey to Chechnya more than 700 miles away. The sophistication of the machinery, which are geared up with GPS, meant that its journey could be tracked. It was last tracked to the village of Zakhan Yurt in Chechnya.
The tools ferried to Chechnya, which included combine harvesters -- can also be managed remotely. "When the invaders drove the stolen harvesters to Chechnya, they realized that they might not even turn them on, as a result of the harvesters have been locked remotely," the contact said.
The equipment now appears to be languishing at a farm near Grozny. But the contact stated that "evidently the hijackers have found consultants in Russia who are making an attempt to bypass the safety."
"Even if they promote harvesters for spare parts, they may earn some money," the contact mentioned.
Other sources in the Melitopol region say theft by Russian army units has extended to grain held in silos, in a region that produces hundreds of hundreds of tonnes of crops a yr.
One supply informed CNN that "the occupiers are providing native farmers to share their income 50% to 50%." However the farmers trying to work in areas occupied by Russian troops are unable to maneuver their produce.
"Not a single elevator works. None of the ports are working. You'll not take this grain from the occupied territory anyplace. "
So Russian forces are merely taking the grain, the supply mentioned. "They steal it, take it to Crimea and that is it."
Final week the mayor of Melitopol posted a video showing a convoy of vehicles leaving Melitopol allegedly loaded with grain.
"Now we have clear evidence that they unloaded grain from the Melitopol city elevator. They robbed the elevator together with personal farms," the mayor advised CNN.