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Let's train stray dogs: Russian lawmaker's absurd proposal amid Ukraine war
Russia-Ukraine War: State Duma deputy Fedot Tumusov suggested that homeless dogs should be trained for combat use.
A Russian lawmaker proposed training "large" and "aggressive" stray dogs for the battlefield in Ukraine, Newsweek reported citing a clip shared on a Russian Telegram channel from the country's parliamentary television broadcast. In the video, State Duma deputy Fedot Tumusov suggested that homeless dogs should be trained for combat use, during a discussion on possible amendments to a law that gives regions in Russia the right to euthanize stray dogs.
The proposal comes as Kyiv's military claimed that its research showed that Russia has suffered more than 200,000 troop deaths in Ukraine since February last year.
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“We have a lot of cynologists in our country who can teach dogs all sorts of different skills. Cynologists would train large and aggressive dogs and send them to the [war] zone. Let them help pull out the wounded, participate in demining,” Fedot Tumusov- who has been sanctioned by the US and the UK-said.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, shared the clip on Twitter, saying, "In case you were wondering about the level of insanity in Russia.
This comes as Russia has stepped up air strikes in recent weeks as Ukraine prepares to launch a counteroffensive to try to take back occupied territory. Earlier on Thursday, Ukraine shot down 29 of 30 missiles launched by Russia in overnight air strikes but one person was killed in an attack on the southern city of Odesa, the military said.
