“How can I surrender?” The Ukrainian helpline receives an average of 100 calls a day from the Russian military – Observer

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Most of the calls come at night. They are somewhat “frustrated” and “frustrated” voices seeking answers about the conditions for eventual surrender. Since the “I Want to Live” project was created in September, it has already received more than 3,500 contacts, between messages and phone calls, from Russian soldiers and their families.

“I don’t quite understand what to do when the Ukrainians come. Am I kneeling or what? What should I do? How should I surrender??”, read one of the many messages sent by Russian soldiers to the surrender line. BBC had access. “I am from Moscow. I have not yet received the call for mobilization, but they have already tried to provide it. Do you have any suggestions on what I should do? I will not kill Ukrainians. I want to save my life,” says another.

Pictures show Russian soldiers surrendering in Kherson, with a makeshift white flag

Russian servicemen in Ukraine, citizens and their family members who fear conscription can call the Ukrainian hotline or send a message through apps like Telegram or WhatsApp. About 100 people search for answers every day. On the other hand, they receive advice on how to proceed to surrender.

🇧🇷First, a voice is heard, mostly male. Partly disbelief, frustration, because they do not understand well how the surrender line works or whether it is a trap,” explains Svitlana (not her real name) in an interview with the British channel. The calls are not always the same and there is a certain “curiosity”. Don’t care, but know how to do it if they need to. There are those who communicate only as a form of inducement. Russian players may be used in the future. Exchange of prisoners With Russian authorities to rescue Ukrainian soldiers.

We cannot judge an entire country. Most of them are worried about their lives,” he reveals.

Since its creation, the line has recorded several peaks, notably after September 21, with the announcement of Russian partial mobilization, the first since World War II. It rose again after the withdrawal of the Russian army from the city of Kherson to the left bank of the Dnipro River.

After Kiev and Kharkiv, Kherson is Putin’s third “biggest defeat”. But why does Zelensky ask for control?

Russia and Ukraine have made accusations over the treatment of prisoners of war. Recently, Moscow accused Ukrainian forces of “shooting them in the head” and demobilizing more than a dozen soldiers. The case allegedly took place in the town of Makhivka in the Donetsk region. “No one can justify the deliberate and systematic killing by degenerates of the Ukrainian armed forces, with one tragic exception being shot directly in the head,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Russia accuses Kiev of executing more than a dozen Russian soldiers

A preliminary investigation by United Nations (UN) human rights office experts found that the images may be genuine. “These disturbing videos are often authentic in what they show. The actual circumstances of the entire sequence of events should be investigated in as much detail as possible. Notice Volker Turk, UN Human Rights