Russian troops in Melitopol plunder $5M farm vehicles from Ukraine — to find they’ve been remotely disabled
Warning: Undefined variable $post_id in /home/webpages/lima-city/booktips/wordpress_de-2022-03-17-33f52d/wp-content/themes/fast-press/single.php on line 26
However after a journey of greater than 700 miles, the thieves had been unable to use any of the tools -- because it had been locked remotely.
Over the past few weeks there's been a growing variety of studies of Russian troops stealing farm gear, grain and even constructing supplies - past widespread looting of residences. But the removal of invaluable agricultural tools from a John Deere dealership in Melitopol speaks to an increasingly organized operation, one that 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 almost $5 million. The combine harvesters alone are worth $300,000 each.
CNN shouldn't be naming a contact in Melitopol familiar with the details of the case for their very own security.
The contact said the method began with the seizure of two combine harvesters, a tractor and a seeder. Over the subsequent few weeks, every thing else was eliminated: in all 27 items of farm machinery. One of the flat-bed trucks used, and caught on digital camera, had a white "Z" painted on it and seemed to be a military truck.
The contact stated there have been rival groups of Russian troops: some would come in the morning and some within the evening.
A few of the equipment was taken to a close-by village, however some of it launched into a long overland journey to Chechnya greater than 700 miles away. The sophistication of the equipment, which are outfitted with GPS, meant that its travel could possibly be tracked. It was final tracked to the village of Zakhan Yurt in Chechnya.
The equipment ferried to Chechnya, which included combine harvesters -- can be controlled remotely. "When the invaders drove the stolen harvesters to Chechnya, they realized that they could not even turn them on, as a result of the harvesters have been locked remotely," the contact mentioned.
The gear now appears to be languishing at a farm near Grozny. However the contact said that "it seems that the hijackers have found consultants in Russia who are attempting to bypass the safety."
"Even when they sell harvesters for spare components, they may earn some money," the contact said.
Different sources within the Melitopol area say theft by Russian army models has extended to grain held in silos, in a region that produces a whole bunch of hundreds of tonnes of crops a yr.
One supply told CNN that "the occupiers are providing local farmers to share their earnings 50% to 50%." However the farmers trying to work in areas occupied by Russian troops are unable to move their produce.
"Not a single elevator works. None of the ports are working. You will not take this grain from the occupied territory anywhere. "
So Russian forces are simply taking the grain, the supply stated. "They steal it, take it to Crimea and that's it."
Last week the mayor of Melitopol posted a video exhibiting a convoy of vans leaving Melitopol allegedly loaded with grain.
"We've clear evidence that they unloaded grain from the Melitopol metropolis elevator. They robbed the elevator together with personal farms," the mayor told CNN.