Audio recordings of thousands of phone calls of Russian soldiers stationed in Ukraine revealed that the capital Kyiv It would have fallen, had it not been for some tactical errors of the Russian army and the Ukrainian resistance.
The communications, intercepted and published by Ukraine, showed how Kiev was supposed to fall within days, according to the New York Times.
The newspaper exclusively obtained recordings of thousands of calls made throughout March, about a month after the launch of the Russian operation in Ukraine, and were intercepted by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies.
Criticism of Putin and army chiefs
Meanwhile, Russian soldiers stationed in Ukraine gave internal accounts of compelling evidence of “failures on the battlefield and crimes against civilians” in phone calls to friends and relatives at home.
From Kyiv – Archyde.com
They also harshly criticized orders issued by their leaders just weeks after the campaign to seize Kyiv.
Soldiers reported a crisis in morale, cited a lack of equipment, and said their commanders lied about the mission they were doing, all circumstances that contributed to the recent setbacks of the Russian campaign in eastern Ukraine.
Some of the conversations also included “sharp criticism of Putin and the military leaders,” according to the newspaper, which said it uses only the soldiers’ first names, in order to protect their identities for fear of retribution.
In turn, a soldier, identified by the newspaper as Alexander, said, “Putin is an idiot, he wants to take (occupy) Kyiv, but it is not possible to do this.”
“We are losing”
Russian soldiers told their relatives that the military strategy was failing and they were surprised by the professionalism of the Ukrainian forces, and one of them says frankly: “We are losing.”
Soldiers described tactical errors and complained of their lack of basic weapons and equipment, such as night vision devices and proper flak jackets.
From east Kyiv – Archyde.com
A soldier named Nikita, in the 656th National Guard Regiment, told his partner that 90 men were killed around him when they were ambushed.
“war crimes”
Meanwhile, in a joint communication between members of the 331st Airborne Regiment, a soldier named Simeon estimated that a third of his regiment had been killed, while another described rows of coffins containing the bodies of 400 young paratroopers waiting to be brought home from the airport hangar.
Soldiers from the 331st Airborne Regiment reported that the entire 2nd Battalion of 600 soldiers had been eliminated.
While a soldier named Andrei told his father that more than half of his regiment had “gone”.
From the outskirts of Kyiv – Archyde.com
In what may amount to evidence of war crimes, a soldier named Sergei admitted to his girlfriend that his commander had ordered the execution of three men who were “walking past our warehouse” and that he had become a “murderer”.
When asked by his girlfriend why they did not take the Ukrainians as prisoners, he replied, “We would have had to feed them, and we do not have enough food for ourselves.”
leave Kyiv
It is noteworthy that Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24 (2022), which included the Donbass region in the east of the country, while military legions headed towards the capital, Kyiv, but Moscow changed its plans after facing violent resistance from the Ukrainians and behind them Western support with weapons and money.
Climate Donbass
Subsequently, Moscow and its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced the launch of the second phase of the operation last April, which focused on the Lugansk and Donetsk regions in the east, where Russia made progress there by controlling all of the two regions in addition to important cities such as Mariupol and the Azovstal factory after fierce battles. .