Russian troops say they’re desperate to quit war in Ukraine on calls with loved ones

Intercepted phone calls from Russian soldiers to their loved ones reveal they are desperate to quit the war and claim they are being “massacred” in Ukraine.

Demoralised Russian soldiers want to quit the army and say they are being “massacred” in Ukraine, according to intercepted phone calls to friends and loved ones back home.

English translations of several alleged phone calls from Russian troops were shared online by Ukrainian politician Anton Herashchenko, an adviser at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In them, Russian troops claimed the war could drag on for “months”, and one soldier claimed his battalion was out of food and that forces were looting a nearby supermarket to eat, The Sun reports.

In one chilling clip, a soldier phoning home complained: “We have no aviation, no f***ing support. We are like cannon fodder.”

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A captured Russian soldier in Ukraine. Picture: Supplied

Some Russian soldiers are desperate to go home. Picture: Supplied

He added that he would “do anything to come back home … resign from the army, I don’t give a f**k”.

The relative back home who he was talking to agreed he should “quit” the army as well.

The soldier also said: “We look forward to when it will all end and we will go home, this damn war f***ed everyone up, fighting for no reason.”

They also claimed they had “no cover” on the battlefield.

One soldier, in a furious rant on the phone to his comrade littered with swear words, reportedly said his battalion was “closest” to the Ukrainian forces and were facing “massacres” at the hands of the enemy.

He describes fellow soldiers “waking up f***ing screaming” in the night, while others were “shaking” and “afraid”, refusing to fight.

A third soldier, in a call allegedly with his wife back in Russia, told her: “Russia itself attacked Ukraine, why I don’t understand. We’re definitely here until May, that’s for certain.”

He added: “The war may last for a couple of years … someone here dies every day.”

National Guard Lieutenant Colonel Astakhov Dmitry Mikhailovich pleaded for ‘mercy’. Picture: Supplied

A fifth conversation was allegedly intercepted between two Russian soldiers, one who is on the frontline.

One said he was earning up to $71 a day, an above-average wage in Russia, but said his fellow soldiers “don’t give a sh*t” about the money anymore.

He spoke of how he was “going to leave the army” and claimed Russian troops with nowhere to wash or sleep had been reduced to “sleeping in the street”.

“We’re running out of diesel fuel, ammunition level is low too. I don’t know what the f**k we’re going to do,” he said.

He also claimed the Ukrainian government handing out tens of thousands of guns to its people had hampered the invasion led by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Everyone here has an assault rifle. Everyone,” the soldier said.

“We were driving yesterday, sitting inside and we heard the sound of bullets, ‘ta ta ta ta ta’, strikes like that.”

Ukraine’s military estimated Russia has lost more than 11,000 troops since the beginning of the invasion on February 24.

This comes alongside a reported loss of 999 armoured personnel carriers, 454 cars, 290 tanks, 68 helicopters and 46 planes.

Putin’s air force allegedly lost nine aircraft in a single day on Sunday, the worst day of the invasion so far for Russia.

Meanwhile, a video has gone viral of a captured Russian commander condemning the invasion of Ukraine at a press conference.

Lieutenant Colonel Astakhov Dmitry Mikhailovich, an elite fighter in the Russian National Guard’s special response unit team, is believed to be the most senior Russian official to speak out against the invasion so far.

Becoming emotional, he said: “I cannot find the words to say sorry to the Ukrainian people.”

He then urged Ukraine to let Russian soldiers live so they could go home and reveal the true horrors of the war.

“I just sincerely hope for your mercy towards those people who come to you with their hands up, or those who are wounded,” he said.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Russian troops say they’re desperate to quit war in Ukraine on calls with loved ones