In one of the intercepted calls published by the “I Want to Live” [Хочу жить] project, a Russian soldier complains not only about missing payments but also about the complete moral and disciplinary collapse within the Russian army.
“There’s f*cking no salary,” the soldier says angrily. According to him, the money comes in randomly: first 29,000 rubles, then 15,000, then 37,000 — and that’s it, no more.
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“No Kursk bonus, no whatever-the-f*ck bonus,” he adds, implying that none of the promised combat allowances or bonuses have been paid.
But according to him, the worst part isn’t even the lack of money: “The main thing here is they better not f*cking send us anywhere from here…” he says, clearly afraid they’ll be redeployed to an even more dangerous area.
The Russian serviceman also tells a woman from the Belgorod region that some of his fellow soldiers drive tanks to get vodka, to which she replies that such behavior is happening daily in her village and nearby settlements as well. Soldiers get drunk and behave inappropriately.
The woman then describes the situation in the Russian border village of Bubnovo, where, she says, the troops have completely lost control of themselves:
“They drive tanks to get vodka, f*cking hell. Got drunk and went looking for women in Bubnovo! They wanted young girls… People were shouting for help!”
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According to her, locals are terrified, while the Russian soldiers act aggressively, recklessly, and with total impunity:
“They do whatever they want. They’re drunk, driving around, roaming through the village, fighting right in front of people. Last week they got wasted and sang ‘Katyusha’ in chorus here.”
I Want to Live – a Ukrainian state-run helpline receiving appeals from Russian and Belarusian servicemen wishing to surrender. I Want to Live operates with support from Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense and the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR).
Kyiv Post regularly reposts some of the most revealing and shocking intercepted conversations. Check out more intercepted conversations:
‘We Need to Take Odesa’ – Russian Woman Cites Fake ‘Biolabs’ to Justify Mykolaiv Attacks
‘The F**king Guys Are Dying!’ – Intercepted Call Reveals Chaos and Command Breakdown in Russian Army
‘They Even Ate Theraflu, Mom’ – Intercept Reveals Russian Soldiers Starving on Front Lines
‘Finally Those Bastards Are Getting Hit’ – Border Russians Revel in Moscow’s First Taste of War
Russian Soldier Threatens Deserters With ‘Meat Assault’ Suicide Mission: ‘That’ll Be Fun, Right?’
- ‘We’ll All Die as One for the Tsar’ – Man Fears Putin Turning Russia into North Korea
- ‘He Came Home for 3 Days and Hung Himself’: Russian Soldier’s Suicide After Conscription Order
- ‘Talk to This ‘Ukrop’ and Erase Him’ – Russian Commander Orders Execution of POW
- Russian Soldier Complains of Using Civilian Trucks to Transport North Koreans
- ‘The Chinese Are Here’ – Russian Troops React to North Korean Arrival
- ‘I Need to Get the Hell Out of Here’ – Russian Soldier Fears for His Life
- ‘I’d Rather Be Dead’ – Russian Soldier Says Commanders Flee and Own Snipers Kill Them
- ‘We Bury Them Right There’ – Russian on Moscow’s Tactic to Avoid Paying for Fallen Soldiers
- ‘Kyiv Never Bombed and Russians Are Dying’ – Russian Wife Complains About Kremlin
- ‘What Are You Even Bragging About?’ – Russian Soldier’s Wife Slams Kremlin for Displaying Captured Weapons
- ‘Half a Battalion Escaped to The Forest’ – Russian Soldier Blamed for Mass Refusal to Fight
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