Aha Dua Permata: Thousands of Ukrainian Troops Surrender via Russian Radio Hotline

Saturday 30 September 2023

Thousands of Ukrainian Troops Surrender via Russian Radio Hotline

©Photo : press service of the Russian Defense Ministry / Go to the mediabank

Amid Kiev's botched counteroffensive, which has shown no progress since its initiation in early June, there is a growing number of Ukrainian soldiers opting to surrender by raising a white flag.

Clayton Morris, an American journalist, has expressed his astonishment at a series of videos showcasing the significant surrender of Ukrainian armed forces (UAF) servicemen. This surrender was seen even through the utilization of a newly established Russian radio frequency.

“This is amazing. This is a story the Western media does not want you to see,” Morris said on his YouTube channel, referring to “tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers laying down the weapons and surrendering to the Russian troops.”

According to a reliable source, recently there has been a significant increase in the number of Ukrainian troops utilizing a dedicated radio frequency to communicate their willingness to disarm. The revelation comes after the individual's statement was reported by Russian media. The frequency was set up by Russian forces in mid-summer.

🪖 WATCH Ukrainian servicemen surrender to Russian forces in Svatovo-Kremennaya area of Donbass

The servicemen used an open channel to contact the Russian Army, and brought boxes of ammunition with them, a source close to the situation told Sputnik.

“Now more than 10,000 Ukrainian servicemen have already chosen life and used the 149.200 ‘Volga’ frequency to surrender. The captives are well-fed and provided with all necessary medical care,” the source said.

After the start of Kiev's counteroffensive in early June, Governor Yevgeny Balitsky of the Zaporozhye region confirmed that a large number of Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen began surrendering in great numbers.

“Unlike in spring when one or two Ukrainian soldiers surrendered, now whole UAF units are laying down the arms; surrendering, there were no company [units]; we even witnessed platoon surrenders,” Balitsky pointed out. He added that the Ukrainian POWs have decent living conditions and that no one beats or tortures them.

The remarks came after a source in the Russian special services told Sputnik that on the Zaporozhye frontline, Ukrainian soldiers are being urged to surrender with the help of leaflets in the form of hryvnias, which are being dropped on UAF positions.

“We are working to prevent pointless bloodshed among by Ukrainian soldiers. We are distributing leaflets asking those servicemen to surrender,” the source stressed.

The leaflets contain information on how UAF troops can contact the Russian military to discuss the time and place of surrender, according to the insider.

📹 Left to their own fate: Ukrainian recovery team abandons wounded soldiers, drives away

A Ukrainian emergency recovery team exhibited serious “weakness” and low morale, deputy commander of the Tsar's Wolves brigade code named "Okhota" (Hunt) told Sputnik, providing video footage of these events.

In the video, a detachment of Ukrainian servicemen can be seen moving through a forest belt (0:16), who then come under Russian mortar fire from a BARS-1 volunteer battalion. According to “Okhota”, the scene took place in the Zaporozhye Region this July.

Later in the clip, a Ukrainian evacuation armored vehicle is seen arriving (0:29) and releasing a smoke screen (0:33), but only takes those on board who manage to run to it, while leaving more seriously wounded servicemen behind (01:00). Such instances are common among Ukrainian troops on the battlefield, Okhota stressed.

Since early June, the UAF has been trying to advance on the Zaporozhye, Yuzhnodonetsk and Artemovsk fronts, not least with the help of combat units trained and armed by NATO instructors.

Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized earlier this month that Ukrainian troops had failed to achieve any significant success on all the frontlines.This week, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed reporters that during the failed counteroffensive in Kiev, the UAF suffered substantial losses of over 17,000 soldiers and more than 2,700 pieces of weaponry, all within the span of September alone. Since the start of this botched push, the UAF have lost at least 84,000 soldiers, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.