The Russians are calling on Ukraine to surrender before even being drafted into the military as morale in Putin’s ranks is plummeting, Kyiv has claimed.
Defense Ministry spokesman Andrii Yusov said men fearful of conscription had contacted a surrender hotline to see how they could safely surrender before being called to the front lines.
Meanwhile, videos have emerged showing a newly recruited tank commander who was told he would be deployed to the Kherson front line in just two days without even firing a shot at a training ground.
Additional footage shows two troops sitting in a field in Ukraine, complaining that they have been abandoned by their commanders without food or water and that they would be better off fighting for the other side.
Kiev’s generals claimed to have killed 550 Russian soldiers in the last 24 hours after conscripts arrived at the front, underscoring the meat grinder into which Moscow’s ragtag reinforcements are thrown.
A newly drafted Russian tank commander complains that he and his crew have been told they will be transferred to Kherson within two days after not receiving any training
A Russian soldier who claims to be already in a foxhole in Ukraine says he and his comrade (right) were abandoned without food or water and were being fired upon
In footage released online, the tank commander says: “Officials have told us there will be no training before we are sent to the conflict zone.
Our commander has officially confirmed that we will be sent to Kherson on September 29th. Make your own choices about what to do with it to move forward…
“There was no training whatsoever – no shooting, no theoretical training … nothing. F***.’
Mark Krutov, a journalist from Radio Free Europe, was able to locate the commander and confirmed that he is in a barracks called Kalininets in Moscow.
The man said he was a night shift worker from Moscow who was sleeping at home when soldiers knocked on his door and ordered him to go to the front.
When asked to elaborate on his ailments, he replied, “Cannot speak now, things have changed drastically, hopefully for the better,” and left contact.
Meanwhile, other footage showed two men claiming to be Russian soldiers allegedly sitting in a foxhole in a forest in Ukraine.
“Here we are in the forest,” says the man into the camera while his comrade sits behind him.
“We’ve just been shot at, they hit us from meters away. We were left in the forest… Like cannon fodder sent to the damn forest.
‘What [are our commanders] Play with that army that just doesn’t work? It’s worse than working in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Damn shit… And none of the commanders of our team are here, they all fled, they were the first to leave. Now there is only us “contractors”.
Vladimir Putin last week ordered the conscription of hundreds of thousands of Russian men into the army and launched a plan to annex parts of the country to Russia
“There is nothing on our machines, no accessories, no electronics. No binoculars, no thermal imaging camera, nothing. machine gun and ammunition. And the bayonet. But there’s no damn thing. Here we sit and wait. Let’s see what will happen.
“At night we sit on the battlefield, on the front lines. It’s right over the field. Those bastards left us with no bloody water. No food. Let’s see what happens next.’
Meanwhile, other footage showed what appeared to be a female quartermaster speaking to new recruits and advising them to bring tampons.
The sanitary items can be used to plug gunshot wounds and stop bleeding when medical equipment is not available, the woman explains to the new recruits.
Other things to bring with you are your own sleeping bags, tourniquets, medication and roll mats.
‘You won’t give it to us?’ asks one of the new recruits.
“It’s all ours, boys,” the woman yells back. “You get a uniform and armor, nothing else.”
These are just the latest examples of poor morale and poor preparation in Russia’s ranks after seven months of war in Ukraine exhausted Putin’s army.
As Kyiv converts to Western weapons, Moscow has scratched the barrel in terms of supplies and equipment.
And last week, in an attempt to solve Russia’s chronic labor problem, Putin ordered what he called the “partial mobilization” of Russian military reserves.
Since then, tens of thousands of men have been ordered to military bases, where they were hastily outfitted and minimally trained before being taken to the battlefield.
A woman wearing a uniform adorned with the symbol of the National Movement of Young Army Cadets hugs a reservist goodbye as he is shipped to Ukraine
Military reservists drafted to fight in Ukraine queue to board buses as their tearful loved ones say goodbye in Crimea’s Sevastopol
Russian military reservists in occupied Crimea receive an Orthodox blessing as they prepare to ship to the front
The United Nations sounded the alarm on Tuesday after credible reports of nearly 2,400 arrests in less than a week amid nationwide protests in dozens of cities against the draft regulations.
Former Soviet Georgia, which was occupied by Russia in 2008, said the number of Russians crossing its borders has risen to about 10,000 a day since Putin’s announcement.
Kazakhstan, the Central Asian country on Russia’s southern border, meanwhile, said nearly 100,000 people had entered the country since September 21, and its leader Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the authorities were “ensuring their safety”.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops are advancing further north of the country, advancing into Luhansk province and Donetsk.
Heavy fighting also continues on the southern front around Kherson, where Ukrainian advances have been limited but Russian casualties are said to be high.
The attacks continued as Putin prepared to secede parts of Ukraine and declare it Russian soil as “voting” in mock referendums ended today.
The Russian despot is believed to be considering addressing the nation as early as Friday to announce that Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson have voted to become part of the “motherland.”
While Ukraine, its Western backers and dozens of other world leaders have vowed never to recognize the voices, they will allow Putin to tell his own people the lie that even now Russia is under attack.
That would open the door to further escalation, including, some fear, a nuclear strike on either Ukraine or its allies.
A man in hospital is asked to drop his ballot in a box while voting is held in mock referendums aimed at annexing parts of Ukraine to Russia
“Saving the people in the areas where this referendum is being held … is the focus of attention for our entire society and the entire country,” Putin said during a televised meeting with officials.
His spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the votes would have “radical” legal implications and that the so-called referendums “will also have security implications,” reiterating Moscow’s threats to use nuclear weapons to defend its territory.
Russian forces in Ukraine have suffered severe setbacks this month, both in the east and south of the country, which observers say has pushed Putin to speed up a vote to consolidate Moscow’s authority there.
EU spokesman Peter Stano announced the bloc would impose sanctions on the organizers of the “illegal” vote after Britain took a similar step earlier in the week.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna was in Kyiv on a surprise visit to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and underscored her country’s support for Ukraine’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
Even Moscow’s closest ally since the invasion began, Beijing, after announcing the votes last week, said Russia should respect territorial integrity in the war.
The so-called referendums follow a pattern used by Moscow in Crimea after nationwide street demonstrations toppled Ukraine’s pro-Kremlin president.
As then, the outcome of the election is viewed by observers as a foregone conclusion. Election officials, in many cases escorted by Russian forces, carried the ballot boxes from door to door.
Lawmakers are expected to vote hastily to annex the territories once the results are announced, and Russian news outlets said Putin could sign a law formalizing the land grabs this week.