Russian troops in Melitopol plunder $5M farm autos 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 use any of the equipment -- because it had been locked remotely.
Over the past few weeks there's been a growing number of reviews of Russian troops stealing farm equipment, grain and even constructing supplies - past widespread looting of residences. However the elimination of helpful agricultural tools from a John Deere dealership in Melitopol speaks to an increasingly organized operation, one which even uses Russian navy transport as part of the heist.CNN has realized that the gear was removed from an Agrotek dealership in Melitopol, which has been occupied by Russian forces since early March. Altogether it's valued at almost $5 million. The mix harvesters alone are value $300,000 each.
CNN is not naming a contact in Melitopol conversant in the details of the case for their own safety.
The contact said the process started with the seizure of two mix harvesters, a tractor and a seeder. Over the next few weeks, every thing else was removed: in all 27 pieces of farm machinery. One of the flat-bed trucks used, and caught on digicam, had a white "Z" painted on it and seemed to be a military truck.
The contact stated there were rival groups of Russian troops: some would come within the morning and a few in the night.
A number of the equipment was taken to a close-by village, however a few of it launched into a long overland journey to Chechnya more than 700 miles away. The sophistication of the machinery, which are outfitted with GPS, meant that its travel could possibly be tracked. It was last tracked to the village of Zakhan Yurt in Chechnya.
The tools ferried to Chechnya, which included combine harvesters -- will also be controlled remotely. "When the invaders drove the stolen harvesters to Chechnya, they realized that they could not even flip them on, because the harvesters were locked remotely," the contact said.
The gear now seems to be languishing at a farm near Grozny. However the contact stated that "evidently the hijackers have discovered consultants in Russia who are making an attempt to bypass the protection."
"Even when they promote harvesters for spare components, they will earn some money," the contact said.
Different sources in the Melitopol region say theft by Russian navy items has extended to grain held in silos, in a region that produces a whole lot of 1000's of tonnes of crops a yr.
One supply instructed CNN that "the occupiers are providing native farmers to share their income 50% to 50%." However the farmers making an attempt 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 will not take this grain from the occupied territory anyplace. "
So Russian forces are simply taking the grain, the source stated. "They steal it, take it to Crimea and that's it."
Last week the mayor of Melitopol posted a video showing a convoy of vans leaving Melitopol allegedly loaded with grain.
"Now we have clear proof that they unloaded grain from the Melitopol metropolis elevator. They robbed the elevator along with non-public farms," the mayor advised CNN.