Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has gone off the rails.
Video has been making the rounds on social media showing an amusement park choo-choo train allegedly being hauled away by Russian forces fleeing the Kherson region in Ukraine ahead of an anticipated offensive.
The cellphone recording, which has gone viral on TikTok, Telegram and Twitter, shows a column of vehicles — among them the blue-and-white children’s “locomotive” — being towed away from Kherson.
“Looting is flourishing here,” a passing motorist shooting the video remarks while driving past the stolen ride laden with other goods.
The Ukrainian news outlet Obozrevatel, which shared the clip on its Telegram channel Sunday, wrote in the caption: “If you thought that Russians had already hit rock-bottom…they will surprise you! Occupiers in Ukraine have stolen… A CHILDREN’S TRAIN – CHOO-CHOO!”
Anton Gerashchenko, advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, wrote in a tweet accompanying the viral video: “We are already accustomed to washing machines (being stolen). But they took it to the next level.”
Ukrainian officials have accused Russian forces of widespread looting in Kherson in preparation for an anticipated battle for the key city — the only regional capital Moscow has seized since its invasion in February.
Russian officials have already evacuated tens of thousands of civilians from the region, along with several monuments and the bones of Grigory Potemkin, the 18th century military leader whose remains were buried in Kherson.
Kyiv has described the evacuation, which Russian President Vladimir Putin personally endorsed last week, as a forced deportation — a war crime.
In an interview with and Italian newspaper Corriere della Serra, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cast doubt on claims that Russia was prepared to retreat from the area.
“I think that is theater,” Zelensky said. “Their toughest soldiers are in their places, nobody has gone away. We see this and do not believe them.”
Most recent reports alleged that Russian were ransacking abandoned homes in Kherson and occupying them, with troops in civilian clothes gearing up for street battles for control of the city.
With Post wires
