Russian soldier says commander shot himself in leg to leave war in Ukraine, officials say
- Audio published by Ukrainian officials captured a Russian soldier talking to his mother
- Soldier told her he and others in the military did not want to be fighting war in Ukraine
A Russian soldier in Ukraine told his mother over the phone that his superior shot himself just to go home, according to audio released by Ukrainian officials.
The soldier, who says he is 20, can be heard complaining to his mother that the war will not end soon and that he doesn’t want to be there.
“This Ukraine does not interest me at all. I need to come back and quit,” he said, explaining that many other Russian soldiers do not want to be there either.
His mother pressed him on whether there are “patriots” in the Russian military encouraging other soldiers not to give up.
“Mom, the commander of my battery of the second platoon shot himself in the leg to get out of here, in the very beginning! What are we even talking about here? And he served in Chechnya,” the soldier responded.