Carefully monitoring unprotected communications, Ukraine’s military intelligence routinely collects information on Kremlin plans for upcoming operations and Moscow’s underlying problems with morale within soldiers’ families and military units, and among the general Russian population.
In a newly intercepted conversation, a Russian soldier’s wife complains to her husband that Moscow can’t destroy the Ukrainian capital and doesn’t value the Russian population, yet no citizens will rise up against the regime.
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“They’re a pain in the ass. There is no end in sight. They can’t bomb this Kyiv. They’ll bomb it once and that’s it, and let our population die. They have a f***ing policy, oh, God forgive me,” the woman says in an intercepted call published by the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine (HUR) on Monday, May 6.
The wife goes on to say she’s unhappy that no one wants to stand up to the authorities and their decisions.
“I’m sick of them! There are no people here, no people, no one to raise an uprising with,” she says, adding that “as soon as we start talking about something like this, they immediately shut up."
According to the Russian, “Only marauders, thieves, and toadstools have grown up in Russia.”
She tells her husband how to get ready for a possible future Russian offensive.
ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 2, 2024
“Sanyok, you have to prepare carefully! Otherwise, they’ll make you some kind of sniper, damn it. You’ll have to hide in a position somewhere far the f**k away,” she says.
Earlier Kyiv Post reported that Ukraine’s military intelligence service (HUR) deputy chief Vadym Skibitsky talked about the possibility of Ukraine losing Chasiv Yar and cautioned that May could be a difficult month for Ukrainians, with possible Russian gains if it launches offensives in the East.
Russia is currently preparing for an offensive in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions in northeastern Ukraine. The main attack will begin “in late May or early June,” Skibitsky said.
The Russian forces have deployed 514,000 troops in the Ukrainian operation. The northern grouping, based across the border from Kharkiv, has 35,000 troops, but it is planned to expand to 50-70,000.
According to Skibitsky, the Russian Defense Ministry is also “forming a reserve division” (15-20,000 personnel) in central Russia, which could be added to the main forces.
However, he said this is “not enough” for an operation to capture a large city.
“A quick operation to come in and come out: maybe,” said Skibitsky. “But an operation to take Kharkiv or even Sumy city is of a different order. The Russians know this. And we know this.”
In some conversations recently intercepted by the HUR, soldiers discussed ways to quit military service and avoid further deployment to the front line while civilians worry about being conscripted.
One Russian soldier was overheard on a phone call revealing that a portion of Moscow’s battalion had defied orders and was currently “idle in the forest, not engaged in combat.”
In another instance, Russian soldiers were complaining about not being given leave in almost two years and saying that “soon we’ll gather a crowd and head towards Russia.”
Last year, Kyiv Post interviewed Maria [surname withheld], who works for Ukrainian intelligence as a professional eavesdropper. She talked about the shocking things she had heard.
Russia regularly dismisses the content of intercepted calls published by Ukraine, saying they are fake, a claim Maria denied.
She said: “Yes, they all are real even though they might seem insane. Sometimes I can’t believe the words I’m hearing myself, but we have what we have.”
Kyiv Post has previously reposted intercepted conversations that may violate Kremlin operational security and reveal the morale of Russian soldiers, their families, and ordinary citizens. Follow these links for other examples:
'Half a Battalion Escaped to The Forest' – Russian Soldier Blamed for Mass Refusal to Fight
'We Lost 600 Men’ – Russian Reveals Horrific Losses and Behavior On Frontlines
‘All Our Guys Were Slaughtered’ – Intercepted Phone Calls Suggest Huge Russian Losses
‘He Started Shooting Us!’ – Intercepted Phone Call Reveals Russian Friendly Fire Incident
‘We’ll Tear You Apart’ – Ukrainian Soldiers Are Trolling Russian Commanders on Telegram
‘War Until 2026’ - Russian Soldier Claims He’s Been Told To Expect 3 More Years of Fighting
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