whitefish here our liveblog from the war in Ukraine
Most calls come in at night. In part, these are the voices of the “desperate” and “disillusioned” in search of answers about the terms of the final surrender. Since the creation of the “I want to live” project in September, he has already received, between messages and phone calls, more than 3,500 contacts from Russian soldiers and their families.
“I don’t quite understand what I should do when the Ukrainians come. Am I on my knees or what? What should I do? How am I supposed to give up?”, can be read in one of the many messages sent by Russian soldiers to the surrender line, and that BBC had access. “I am from Moscow. I haven’t received the call for mobilization yet, but it has already been tried to be delivered. Do you have any advice what should I do? I will not kill Ukrainians. I would like to save my life“, says another.
Russian military personnel in Ukraine, citizens fearful of mobilization for war, and their family members can call the Ukrainian hotline or send a message through applications such as Telegram or WhatsApp. Every day, about 100 people are looking for answers. On the other hand, they receive advice on how to proceed in order to give up.
“First we hear a voice, predominantly male. Partly in despair, disappointment, because they don’t understand very well how the surrender line works or is it just a trap, ”explains Svetlana (not her real name) in an interview with a British channel. Calls are never the same and there is a certain “curiosity”. For many, it is important not to give up, but to know how they can do it if necessary. There are also those who communicate only in the form of a provocation. Russian soldiers may be used in the future exchange of prisoners with the Russian authorities to restore the Ukrainian military personnel.
We cannot judge the whole country. Most of them are worried about their lives,” he says.
Since its inception, the line has registered several peaks, in particular after 21 September, when a partial Russian mobilization was announced, the first since World War II. It rose again after the withdrawal of Russian troops from the city of Kherson to the left bank of the Dnieper.
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged accusations regarding the treatment of prisoners of war. Moscow recently accused Ukrainian forces of firing “shots in the head” at more than a dozen immobilized soldiers. The incident occurred in the city of Makeevka, Donetsk region. “No one can justify the deliberate and methodical killing of more than ten Russian servicemen, shackled by direct shots to the head by degenerates of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as a tragic exception,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
A preliminary analysis by experts from the UN Human Rights Office showed that the images are likely to be true. “These disturbing videos are most likely authentic in what they show. The factual circumstances of the entire sequence of events must be investigated as extensively as possible.” ad Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
