Russia says many Ukrainian soldiers surrendered

Nga nói nhiều lính Ukraine đầu hàng - 1 — Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu (Photo: Tass).

"Minister Shoigu noted that over the past 3-4 weeks, a large number of Ukrainian soldiers have been captured or voluntarily surrendered. They are talking about the weakened morale of Ukrainian units," the Russian Defense Ministry announced on October 25.

During a meeting with servicemen from the Russian military's Eastern Operational Group, Minister Shoigu also asked them how the enemy's behavior has changed.

"They are in panic, we know all their approaches, inside and out, we continue to attack them," the Russian serviceman replied.

One of the Russian soldiers spoke to the Russian Defense Minister about the four Ukrainian soldiers captured on October 24. According to the Russian soldier, all four of the captured soldiers lived in Lviv, were called up for military service and “almost immediately sent to the front line.”

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Defense Minister Shoigu inspected the forward command post of the Eastern Task Force and heard a report on the situation on the southern Donetsk front.

"At the command post, the Defense Minister heard reports from the battle group commander and staff officers on the current situation, the nature of the enemy's actions and the performance of combat tasks by the Russian troops in the main tactical areas," the Russian Defense Ministry added.

On the same day, the spokesman for Russia's southern combat group, Vadim Astafiyev, said that the force had killed more than 200 Ukrainian servicemen in the Donetsk region.

According to the military news site Avia Pro , the number of Ukrainian soldiers surrendering has increased significantly recently, indicating a decline in the morale of Ukrainian forces.

Tass news agency quoted an anonymous source on September 27 as saying that more than 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers "chose life and used the 149,200 "Volga" frequency to surrender."

The source confirmed that the "Volga" frequency is broadcasting in all directions of the front line in the area of Russia's military operation in Ukraine.

Frequency 149,200 is accessible by all digital radio stations and was set up by the Russian side for Ukrainian soldiers to announce their intention to surrender. The Russian military can then safely locate and detain those who surrender.

Meanwhile, since September 2022, the Ukrainian General Intelligence Directorate has set up a 24/7 hotline called “I Want to Live” to help Russian soldiers voluntarily surrender. Parallel to the hotline is a website and chatbot providing information about the surrender program.

During its initial six months of operation, nearly 10,000 Russian soldiers called the hotline, the Kyiv Independent reported in March, citing figures from the Coordination Headquarters for the Handling of Prisoners of War. However, it is unclear how many of them actually surrendered.

The figures given by both Russia and Ukraine cannot be independently verified.

Ukraine began its counter-offensive in June after receiving additional weapons and training from the West. However, the speed of Ukraine's counter-offensive has been slower than expected due to Russia's solid, multi-layered defense system.

According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine suffered heavy losses in this counterattack, including more than 71,000 troops, 543 tanks and nearly 18,000 armored vehicles.

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