Russian forces have prepared a mobile crematorium for use in any future conflict with Ukraine in what Britain’s Defence Secretary has described as “chilling”.

The MoD released footage of a vehicle-mounted crematorium with room to “evaporate” one human body at a time, which has been seen trailing Russian forces and is expected to follow any troops into Ukraine.

Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, suggested the use of such a system may be a way for the Kremlin to cover up any future combat losses, fearing a repeat of the criticism at home when Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014.

Mr Wallace said if Russian forces instigate conflict in Ukraine “we expect to see some of the things they’ve done previously”.

“Previously they’ve deployed mobile crematoriums to follow troops around the battlefield, which in anyone’s book is chilling.

“If I was a soldier and knew that my generals had so little faith in me that they followed me around the battlefield with a mobile crematorium, or I was the mother or father of a son, potentially deployed into a combat zone, and my government thought that the way to cover up loss was mobile crematorium, I’d be deeply, deeply worried.

“It’s a very chilling side effect of how the Russians view their forces and for those of you who served, and being a soldier, knowing that trundling behind you is a way to evaporate you if you are killed in battle probably says everything you need to know about the Russian regime.”

In the footage released by the MoD, Cyrillic text overlaid on the video says the equipment, which was created specifically for the destruction of hazardous biological waste, comes from a St Petersburg company called Tourmaline. The company’s website says it is ‘The Russian Incinerator Company’.

Attempts by The Telegraph to contact the company went unanswered.

Kremlin cover-up

At the time local and international media outlets, human rights groups and local activists reported Russian soldiers were being buried in unmarked graves in a bid to hide the fact they were operating inside Ukraine.

Protest groups, many formed by mothers of missing and dead soldiers, sprang up across Russia, notably in Moscow, rejecting attempts by the authorities to blame deaths on individuals who had wandered across the border.

One group, the Soldiers’ Mothers Committee, blamed Vladimir Putin for violating international law and said Russian military commanders forced soldiers to fight illegally in Ukraine “while mothers receive coffins with their sons, anonymously,” according to the Washington Post.