A Russian soldier in a text sent moments before his death allegedly expressed doubts about the war in Ukraine and suggested that his commanding officer lied to him about his mission.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, read on Monday what he said was a text exchange between a dead Russian soldier and his mother moments before he died in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kyslytsya presented what he said was a screenshot of the text during an emergency session of the United Nations General Assembly.
“I would like to read from this screenshot of the smart phone of a killed Russian soldier. It’s an actual screenshot from someone who is dead already,” Kyslytsya said, introducing the exchange.
“Why has it been so long since you responded. Are you really in training exercises?” asks the mother of the killed soldier moments before he was killed.
“Mom, I’m no longer in Crimea. I’m not in training sessions.”
“Where are you then? Papa is asking whether I can send you a parcel.”
“What kind of a parcel, Mama, can you send me?”
“What are you talking about? What happened?”
“Mama, I’m in Ukraine. There is a real war raging here. I’m afraid. We are bombing all of the cities together, even targeting civilians. We were told that they would welcome us and they are falling under our armored vehicles, throwing themselves under the wheels and not allowing us to pass. They call us fascists. Mama, this is so hard.”
“And this was several moments before he was killed,” Kyslytsya added.
Ukrainian Ambassador to the @UN @SergiyKyslytsya reads text messages between a Russian soldier and his mother moments before he was killed.⁰
"Mama, I'm in Ukraine. There is a real war raging here. I'm afraid. We are bombing all of the cities…even targeting civilians." pic.twitter.com/kbWYZfbSpE
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 28, 2022
The original source of the text exchange is unverified; however, it comes amid rumors that members of the Russian military sent to invade Ukraine were misled at least initially about their mission. A viral video that surfaced over the weekend purports to show several captured Russian soldiers confessing their doubts about the mission and claiming that they were lied to by commanders. As Newsweek reported:
When asked what purpose they came to Ukraine, the soldiers gave varying responses while suggesting they had been lied to and tricked into it.
The first Russian soldier said: “[We came here] for training. We were cheated a little, so that’s how I am here.”
The second Russian soldier replied: “For training. I was sent here by commanders.”
The third soldier said: “We were told we were being sent for training at first, but we were put on the frontline. People were demoralized and didn’t want to go, but they said you will become public enemies. We do not want this war. We just want to go home and we want peace.”
The fourth soldier echoed these sentiments, saying: “They told us that everything would be fine. We knew nothing. We were deceived and abandoned.”
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