Life for ordinary people near Russia’s border with Ukraine, areas regularly targeted by drone strikes and shelling in recent months, were the focus of newly published intercepted phone calls released on June 9 by the Ukrainian project “I Want to Live.” The initiative, which operates under Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR), is designed to help Russian military personnel safely surrender to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The audio recordings, attributed to residents of Russia’s Bryansk and Belgorod regions, feature conversations describing widespread destruction, a collapse of basic services, and an overall sense of abandonment. According to the report, the interceptions were made over the past few months and “show how war has become a permanent backdrop to everyday life.”
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“Natasha said something – I don’t really know what. She said to call Uncle Volodya, but he’s not answering. Neither is Valya… Where did it explode? They keep sending endless drones – Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk,” a Russian woman is heard saying.
Her interlocutor adds that the apartment in question had been rented long ago for the family’s daughters, and now “maybe a dozen, maybe fifteen people” remain there.
“No one works there anymore. The post office doesn’t work; nothing works… Our store is still open, and so is the post office, sort of, but they deliver mail differently now. The clinic – that’s shut down too. That’s how things are,” he says.
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“I Want to Live” notes that such conversations are typical of life in Russia’s borderlands today.
“These are people who once didn’t even know phrases like ‘drone attack’ or ‘uncontrolled detonation of ammunition.’ But now, thanks to Vladimir Putin’s so-called ‘movement’ [a term he recently used to describe the war during a press conference], they live in constant fear – often left to face danger entirely on their own,” the post reads.
The project further claims that, beyond the bombardments, residents in these regions are also suffering from lawlessness imposed on them by Russian troops stationed there. “Life there is already extremely difficult. But still better than being wiped off the map by Russian airstrikes, like [the town of] Sudzha,” the authors state.
In closing, the “I Want to Live” team urges residents of Belgorod, Kursk, and Bryansk regions to contact their hotline if they wish to evacuate from high-risk areas. “Unlike your own government – we will help you,” the message concludes.
Last month Kyiv Post covered an intercepted call where a resident of Russia’s Belgorod region complains that the authorities are deliberately creating unbearable living conditions for people in border areas.
“Listen, they called me and said they’ve cut off the gas along the border. The authorities say: just hold on a bit longer. It’s obvious – they want to force everyone out of the border villages,” the man says during the call.
According to him, local officials are preparing to turn the frontline area into a no-go area – something resembling a “gray zone” or a “temporary accommodation area.”
“They’ll turn it into a zone, like those other ‘zones’... And that’s it – they’ll even fence us in with barbed wire,” he adds.
Earlier this month Kyiv Post reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin once again called for a “security buffer zone” along the border with Ukraine, a move Kyiv sees as a clear sign that the Kremlin is not interested in peace.
Earlier last year, Kyiv Post interviewed “Maria” who works as one of Ukrainian intelligence’s professional eavesdroppers and spoke about the shocking things she hears.
Russia regularly dismisses the content of intercepted calls published by Ukraine, saying they are fake, a claim Kyiv Post put to Maria. She said: “They are all are real even though they might seem insane. Sometimes I can’t believe the words I’m hearing myself, but we have what we have.”
Kyiv Post regularly reposts some of the most revealing and shocking intercepted conversations. Check out more intercepted conversations:
‘Eliminate the F**king Prisoners’: Another Russian Commander Orders Execution of Wounded Ukrainians
‘They Drive Tanks for Vodka’ – Intercept Reveals Drunk Russian Troops Terrorizing Border Village
‘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?’
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