Russians Offer Armored Vehicles on Ukraine Surrender Hotline: Official
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Ukrainian soldiers on an armored vehicle near Lyman, Ukraine, on October 6, 2022. Image used for illustration purposes. YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images
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- An official claimed that Ukraine's surrender hotline had a record number of calls in March.
- He said Ukraine is already using armored vehicles handed over by surrendering Russians.
- The "I Want to Live" hotline allows Russian soldiers to call up and pre-arrange a surrender.
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Russian soldiers calling a Ukrainian hotline that allows them to surrender are also offering to hand over equipment and heavy armored vehicles, a Ukrainian official said.
The telephone line is part of a project called "I Want to Live," allowing Russian soldiers to arrange to give themselves up rather than fight.
The hotline tells callers they will receive treatment under the terms of the Geneva Convention, which guarantees meals, phone calls home, and medical care.
Launched last year, officials claim to receive thousands of calls per month — with record numbers coming in throughout March, spokesperson Vitaliy Matvienko told Ukrainian TV, according to The New Voice of Ukraine.
He attributed the rise to fears over a counter-offensive expected from Ukraine this Spring, the outlet reported.
"In March, we essentially broke a record - more than 3,000 appeals, which is twice as many [per month] as in 2022," Matvienko told Ukrainian TV, per the outlet.
"In October and December 2022, on average, we recorded 1,400-1,500 requests per month," he reportedly added. "In January to March 2023, the number increased to 2,500."
Insider was unable to independently verify the claims.
Matvienko said that calls are coming in from across the front line to surrender both fighters and equipment.
He added that "interesting" Russian heavy armored vehicles are already being used by Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield, according to the outlet.
By Ukraine's account, the surrender hotline has been a major success since its launch in September 2022, just ahead of President Vladimir Putin's mass mobilization of reservists — a deeply unpopular move in Russia.
By mid-November, the hotline and its related Telegram channel were believed to have received more than 3,500 appeals in total.
Throughout a grueling Spring campaign, Russia has barely managed to inch forward on the front line, with thousands of troops perishing at grimly-held hotspots such as the eastern city of Bakhmut.
Western officials estimated in March that up to 30,000 Russian soldiers had died trying to take the city — dying at five times the rate of Ukrainians, one anonymous NATO official told CNN. UK intelligence reported on Friday that after months of battle, Russian soldiers have "highly likely" advanced to the center of the city.
In an expansion of the "I Want to Live" project in December, an instructional video was released telling would-be captives how to surrender not only directly to soldiers, but also to a drone.
There are nonetheless some reports of both Russian and Ukrainian mistreatment of prisoners of war. Following a UNHCR report last November, Ukraine launched a criminal investigation into the allegations. Russia, however, did not cooperate with the probe.
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Good news from the eastern front...
No matter if they get one of a hundred it's hurts the Russian army.
Russia hasn’t changed and neither have their leaders over the last 300 years. They haven’t adopted a western military approach and as such they will keep incurring extremely high casualties for minimal gain.
They are still in WW2 mode, “throw enough meat in the grinder and eventually the grinder will jam up.”
The massive difference that apparently Putin doesn’t recognize is that this time around the West isn’t backing them like we did in WW2.
Agreed. Russia is militarily stupid when it comes to modern warfare. We had better hope they never learn modern tactics. They might become a real threat; and not just because of their nuclear arsenal.
Don't kid yourself; Putin knows it. He is tying up a large portion of US equipment and munitions with this war. It is affecting US military readiness. Think that Xi is rattling the war drums right now for the fun of it? We are heading past the point of no return. We may save Ukraine; but sacrifice Taiwan. Doubt that Taiwan will be able to hold out against China long enough for the US to switch gears and recall/divert assets from Ukraine to the Pacific.
The Chinese and Russians assuming a dominant roll in the ME will not be helping matters. The Saudis getting OPEC to cut production by 1.2 million barrels a day won't be doing the US any good.
Been hearing stories like this for months concerning Russian efforts in Ukraine. But the war drags on and on and on. Why? Are the millions of Russians and the bulk of the government so oblivious they are not aware? Or are they so afraid of one man, 'Putin' that they are afraid to end the war and him once and for all?
It's all about the weather BBL. They are transitioning from frozen to mud.
Lots of video of slipping and sliding vehicles this week.
Spring is coming quickly.