Russian troops in Ukraine say the situation has become such an embarrassment more than a year into the war that they’re convinced no one wants to be there in the first place.
That’s according to a two-and-a-half minute recording released Thursday by Ukrainian intelligence that is said to capture a phone chat between two fed-up Russian soldiers discussing mass desertions.
After 119 soldiers fled the front line, one of the unnamed soldiers said, many of them were tracked down and 70 of them were hit with criminal charges, while 30 were “jailed for fucking two years or more.”
Instead of venting his frustrations at his AWOL fellow troops, the man scoffed at military officials who he said “once again” explained to all the soldiers that they’d be tossed in jail if they left their positions for more than 48 hours, something that has apparently become a popular trend.
“Can you fucking believe we still have Kharkiv [to take]?” the other soldier quipped.
“We still have Kyiv,” his friend shot back.
“Fuck, at least Kharkiv.”
“There’s still Poltava, Sumy, Chernikhiv, fuck! … They can’t even fucking take Bakhmut!”
“There’s no equipment, there’s fucking nothing. Or there’s just no desire,” the other soldier said.
