Ukraine can make area of the Donbas into ‘fortress’ says Clarke
A fighter reportedly told his wife in Russia that his unit almost mutinied, nearly killing General Valeriy Solodchuk who had fired shots into the air in a bid to get them to the frontline. General Solodchuk, a commander of Russia’s 36th army, told soldiers: “I will kill you all if you won’t go fighting!”
To which another soldier brandished a hand grenade, took out the safety pin and replied: “Come on, kill me!”
The dramatic exchange was reportedly intercepted by Ukraine’s security service.
A transcript was published online along with a recording of an intercepted phone call between the first fighter who was telling his wife what happened.
The recording comes as regional governor Serhiy Gaidai told Ukrainian state television on Tuesday, May 31, that Russian troops are slowly advancing towards the centre of the city of Sievierodonetsk in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region.
A man looks at a destroyed Russian tank at Dmytrivka village near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv (Image: Getty)
The DPR army targets Ukrainian army positions (Image: Getty)
Capturing the twin cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk on the banks of the Siverskyi Donets river would give Moscow effective control over Luhansk and allow the Kremlin to declare some sort of victory.
The leader of the Moscow-backed Luhansk People’s Republic, Leonid Pasechnik, told Russia news agency TASS that a third of Sievierodonetsk was already under control but progress was less rapid than hoped.
If confirmed, Ukraine security service’s transcript would provide an insight into morale within Russia’s ranks three months into a war which Moscow describes as a special military operation.
In the dialogue, translated into English, the soldier told his wife General Solodchuk asked him how many days he had left until his deployment ended.
READ MORE ABOUT THE POUND FACING AN EXISTENTIAL CRISIS
A Ukrainian tank in Lysychansk, Luhansk (Image: Getty)
A woman hugs her mother as black smoke rises from a bus depot in Lysychansk, Luhansk (Image: Getty)
The soldier said he had about 20 days left, to which the general reportedly replied: “Then you have 20 days to vanish here!”
According to the transcript, the fighter then told his wife: “Then all of us mutinied and refused to go to the frontline. Because this is utmost stupidity already.
“Only 215 are left out of our [battalion tactical group] of 600. The rest were killed or wounded.”
General Solodchuk brandished his rifle, fired shots and said: “I will kill you all if you won’t go fighting!”
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Russia versus Ukraine in numbers (Image: Express)
The second soldier confronted his superior, demanding, “Come on! Kill me!” before a stand off between the soldiers and general’s bodyguards.
The transcript, shared on social media on Monday, May 30 by Ukrainian journalist Viktor Kovalenko, added: “The General’s bodyguards from the Spetznaz pointed their Kalashnikovs at us, and we also pointed ours.
“We almost killed each other. [The] General escaped to his vehicle and was gone.”
Then punning on the General’s name by calling him Svolochuk, svoloch translates as bastard according to the transcript, the wife asked: “Is he seriously out of his mind, this Solodchuk-Svolochuk?”
[2] Translation of the intercepted by Security Service of #Ukraine phone call between a Russian soldier in #Ukraine and his wife in Russia. He describes an almost deadly conflict with Col. Gen. Valeriy Solodchuk, a commander of the 36th Army who fired shots to force them to fight pic.twitter.com/hSN5nUbn51
— Viktor Kovalenko (@MrKovalenko) May 30, 2022
A destroyed truck on fire near a bridge connecting Severodoonetsk and Lysychansk (Image: Getty)
To which her husband replied: “Well, our brigade can’t capture anything because we have already nothing (sic).
“[Ukrainians] destroyed everything – no troops anymore, nothing. We are left with only one mortar commander.
“We are left with only two mortars out of 12. All were destroyed. Only three vehicles are able to drive out of 12.”
Having failed to take the capital Kyiv at the start of the war, Moscow is now seeking to consolidate its grip on the Donbas, large parts of which are already controlled by Moscow-backed separatists.
It has concentrated enormous firepower on a small area, bludgeoning towns and cities with artillery and air strikes.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government has urged the West to provide it with more longer-range weapons to turn the tide of the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymuyr Zelensky voiced hopes on Monday that the weapons would be provided and that he expected “good news” in the coming days.
US officials have said such weapons systems are actively being considered.
The Kremlin has said its “special military operation” aims to rid Ukraine of nationalists threatening Russian-speakers.
Ukraine and Western countries have said Russia’s claims are a false pretext for a war of aggression.
The West has imposed a barrage of sanctions targeting Moscow while delivering shipments of weapons to help the Ukrainian government defend itself.
US President Joe Biden said, however, that Washington would not send Ukraine rockets that can reach Russia.