Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was met with stubborn resistance. Ukraine has successively released videos of captured Russian soldiers on the Internet. Some of them were crying and talking to their families. Some people admitted that they didn’t even know that they were sent to invade and attack the “defense of the homeland and the country.” Some even complained: “ They sent us to die, and they didn’t even let us collect our bodies.” “We were sent as cannon fodder to kill peaceful people.” The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense also issued a statement on the 2nd inviting Russian mothers to come to Kyiv in person to bring them home.
According to the videos of many captured Russian soldiers released by Ukraine on the Internet, many Russian soldiers revealed that they thought they were just conducting training exercises in the border area, and did not know that they were going to invade Ukraine. When they found out they were going to fight, they felt “low morale”, but were told that it was wartime and that if they refused, they would become enemies of the state and could even be shot.
Some of the videos were posted through the “Find Your Own” Telegram channel set up by the Ukrainian Interior Ministry. A Russian soldier in handcuffs cried: “They sent us to die. They don’t even take corpses, and there is no funeral.” The superior also warned him not to collect the corpses for his companions, and not to touch the corpses, otherwise “FSB (Russian Federation Security) Bureau) will arrest you.” He told the female relative on the other end of the phone, “I love you too,” before covering his face and weeping.
A wounded Russian soldier insisted he did not know he was coming to invade Ukraine and demanded that Moscow end the conflict. He appealed: “We are killing peaceful people. This is not our war. Moms, wives, call your husband back. There is no need to be here.” And claimed: “At least the soldiers in our troops don’t want this war. “We want to go home, we want peace.”
Another Russian soldier said: “I don’t understand what Russia wants from the war. Mom, Dad, I love you.” Another soldier urged Kyiv and Moscow to evacuate children from the war zone, while another lamented : “No one wants war”, and soldiers sent text messages to their homes, crashing and shouting “I don’t want to live anymore.”
According to Agence France-Presse, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced on the 2nd: “We have made a decision that if the mothers come to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in person, the captured Russian soldiers will be returned to them.” Embarrassing “latest wave of operations”. The Ukrainian English-language media website “Kyiv Independent” alleges that Ukrainian civilians are now providing captured Russian soldiers with tea and food, as well as allowing them to make video calls with their mothers.
According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Russia has lost at least 5,840 soldiers in a week, and more than 7,000 soldiers have been killed so far. If the numbers are correct, it would be the fastest military loss since World War II. Ukrainian authorities have also asked the International Red Cross to help return the bodies of Russian soldiers, stressing that “there are thousands of bodies of the invaders. This is a humanitarian need.”
In addition, according to the 24-hour radio communication records of the Russian troops obtained by the British intelligence company ShadowBreak, it shows that the situation of the Russian army is chaotic. Some troops refused to obey central command’s orders to shell Ukrainian towns and complained about insufficient food and fuel supplies.
Recordings obtained by ShadowBreak show Russian soldiers frustrated by the war and Moscow’s army in “complete chaos”. “We’ve been here for three days! When are we ready?” asked one of the Russian soldiers when he asked when food or fuel would arrive. .
ShadowBreak founder Cardillo found that “the movements of the Russian soldiers were completely disorganized. They didn’t know where they were going or how to really communicate with each other properly,” adding: “Sometimes we hear them (Russian soldiers) crying in battle. , sometimes they scold each other. This is obviously not a sign of high morale.” He also mentioned that some messages involving “war crimes evidence” were also intercepted, including orders from superiors to fire missiles into urban areas.
The New York Times quoted a senior U.S. military official as saying that some Russian troops “deliberately punched holes in the fuel tanks of vehicles” to evade combat, which also shows that Russian morale may be quite low. In addition, some Russian troops are still using two-way radios to communicate, making communications easier to intercept. It is said that the Ukrainian army can easily interfere with Russian military communications and interrupt communications with the Ukrainian national anthem.
According to another recording obtained by ShadowBreak, a Russian soldier cried and reported to his superiors: “It’s slow, it’s slow.” The communications allegedly showed that the Russian soldiers were told to enter Ukraine with little resistance. Unexpectedly, the Ukrainian army has stubbornly resisted Russia to this day. There are video clips online showing Ukrainian civilians confronting invading troops and convoys, blocking the road to hinder the advance of Russian troops.