Intercepted phone calls revealed just how much Russian soldiers suffer on the front

In 2023, Ukrainian officials disclosed that for several months, they have been surveilling the private communications of Russian soldiers. This intelligence gathering revealed the soldiers' true feelings about the conflict and highlighted significant disarray within the ranks of Vladimir Putin's military.

A  released phone call between a Russian serviceman known only as Andrey and his mother was reported on by The Guardian's Daniel Boffey and Pjotr Sauer and illustrated just how bad the situation has gotten for those fighting on the front. 

​​“No one feeds us anything, mum,” Andrey complained, adding that the supply situation was very bad “to be honest” and that he was “drawing water from puddles” to use as his drinking water. 

Back in May of 2020, Putin signed a decree banning soldiers from carrying smartphones or any electronic device capable of giving away sensitive location data or transmitting audio or video material in order to cut down on information leaks from the front. 

But Putin’s ban hasn’t stopped soldiers like Andrey from carrying personal phones onto the battlefield and feeding critical intel to the Armed Forces of Ukraine about the morale of Russian troops. 

“Where are the missiles that Putin boasted about?” Andrey asked. “There is a high-rise building right in front of us. Our soldiers can’t hit it. We need one Caliber cruise missile and that’s it.”

While Andrey’s comments may seem mundane, they offer a compelling insight into the minds of soldiers questioning the invasion and the lack of supplies needed to fight war successfully. 

Another conversation shared with Boffey and Sauer between a father and the friends of his dead son Andrei revealed just how terrible the situation was for some soldiers. 

When asked by Andrei’s grieving father about the condition of the soldiers who survived their fight with Ukrainian forces, one soldier responded that there were no reinforcements nor any communication. 

“They said we weren’t allowed to retreat. Otherwise, we may be shot,” the soldier added—a sentiment that truly shows just how wrong things have gone for the Russians in Ukraine.

Boffey and Sauer also shared a third intercepted conversation from another soldier who was contemplating surrendering while speaking with his wife. 

“I’m in a sleeping bag, all wet, coughing, generally f-d up,” the soldier said, “we were all allowed to be slaughtered.”

Quotes criticizing the war are a dime a dozen these days with thousands of Russian soldiers calling home and from the battlefield and explaining to their loved ones what's really happening in the snow-swept plains of Ukraine's vast steppe. 

But more interesting than quotes from a defeated and demoralized force are revelations that many Russian troops were already questioning the war back when Russia still controlled the initiative and was still winning by all objective measures. 

In late September 2023, the New York Times reported on a group of dozens of soldiers who were stationed in Bucha and used 22 phones to make hundreds of calls throughout March during the early phase of the war, many of which recorded their growing anger with the war and President Putin.

“Mom, this war is the stupidest decision our government ever made, I think,” a soldier named Sergey said according to the New York Times. “Putin is a fool,” another soldier added. “He wants to take Kyiv. But there’s no way we can do it.”

All of this leaves one to wonder: at what point will the soldiers have enough? When will they turn their guns away from Kyiv and towards the men in Moscow who are sending them to their doom? 

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