Radio messages suggest troops are refusing to obey orders to shell Ukrainian towns, and complaining about a lack of fuel and food. Latest news, analysis and comment from POLITICOs editors and guest writers in Europe. The soldier asked his mother to take care of his son.

Blobs of what looked like human fecal matter sat in the middle of the entryways into two apartments in one of the buildings. Instead, the remarks seemed to be more in line with the Kremlins recent PR efforts to boost morale amid reports of dead troops literally being incinerated to hide losses and soldiers sent to the frontlines with no equipment. There were some adequate people among them, said Mykhailo. Why should we leave? We asked them, Why did you come here? To which they responded, To liberate you., Olena chafed at the response. In Kherson, where an official from Russias Federal Security Service recently took over as the head of the new Kremlin-run administration, authorities have begun burning the bodies of dead soldiers to hide the real number of losses, according to Ukrainian intelligence. Some of the vehicles had holes, appearing to have been made from the buildings upper floors.

Latest news, analysis and comment on elections in Europe and beyond. Find out by adding your postcode or visit InYourArea, A local man is heard to ask: Are you leaving us? with one of the soldiers replying: Were going home.Speaking to BBC Radio 4s Today programme on Wednesday, Defence Secretary BenWallacesaid: We have definitely seen cases of very quick surrenders by Russian forces, we have seen lots of abandonment of incredible pieces of equipment. Were not wanted here. ", Joe Biden speaks about Russia's possible invasion into Ukraine. Its insane.The tapes also offered proof Russia was guilty of war crimes, he claimed, given the orders to fire ballistic missiles into urban areas.Mr Cardillo said: There were periods where we heard them crying in combat, a period where they were insulting each other obviously not a sign of great morale. "That is what happens when your military leaders don't prepare you, lie to you or deceive you and also you base a military plan based on an arrogant assumption that you are the liberator. Officers kill their wounded soldiers, leave the dead on the battlefield, do not notify relatives. Log in to access content and manage your profile. But in a separate briefing by Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov on Thursday, no mention was made of any such break, and it was not clear how many troops were supposedly being allowed to take a timeout. These are not people. She knew they were Russians by their armbands. Mykhailo recalled how towards the end of the occupation, he saw one Russian soldier moving quickly with a pair of someone elses sneakers dangling over his shoulder. More info. Latest news, analysis and comment on German politics and beyond. Find out by adding your postcode or, Putin left reeling as key ally Belarus refuses to join war, Russian soldiers head home on foot en masse, Lavrov issues chilling warning to West over nuclear war. Only two were spared, largely because he stepped in to convince the Russians to leave them alone. The residents declined to provide their last names to feel more secure. Latest news, analysis and comment on defense in Europe and beyond. As the days wore on, Russian morale eroded. Confidence had curdled into confusion and fear.

The pro-Kremlin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda went all out to frame the announcement as a cause for celebration among troops, reporting that concerts have even been arranged for them. I had to recall that I have the same last name as a Russian oligarch, hinting at kinship, he said with a smirk.

Fortunately, the large majority of locals had already fled and the Russians occupied their temporarily abandoned flats. "A decision has been made to hand over the captured Russian troops to their mothers if they come to pick them up in Ukraine, in Kiev," they wrote on Facebook.

I told the commanding officer to look it up, how so-and-so is based here.. One shot-up car had a V painted on it in white, a symbol Russia has used both to mark its equipment and as militaristic propaganda. Latest news, analysis and comment from POLITICOs editors and guest writers on the continent. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. Various Russian units stationed in these towns either randomly or systematically killed civilians, according to the Ukrainian government, international journalists, as well as multiple interviews with local residents. Sign up for our news briefing, including a daily special Russia-Ukraine edition. We said, This is our home, our land, we live here. They shat them up, said Mykhailo. ShadowBreak founder Samuel Cardillo managed to obtain the recordings from amateurs listening in using antennas.He said: What we have found is that the Russian operatives are operating in complete disarray.They have no clue where they are going and how to really communicate with each other properly.Troops would often spend 20 minutes doing a sound check, enabling radio hams to eavesdrop, Mr Cardillo explainedHe added: Its basically like tapping into a police frequency in the US. They actually thought wed meet them with flowers.. Something inside me twisted., He asked to speak to an officer, who demanded, What do you want?. The Russians fired on Ukrainian positions from a nearby grove of evergreen trees and some neighboring buildings and took fire in return, before retreating to the housing complex to shelter and rest. They got a good look at what life is like here and understood they wouldnt be able to.. Were not wanted here. Im scared, were firing at everyone, even civilians.Another video shows Russian troops apparently walking back across the Russian border in the Sumska region. Some soldiers would compare life here with life back home. When the hell is it going to be ready?There are also reports of Ukrainian forces jamming Russian communications by playing Ukraine's national anthem. In Hostomel alone, 400 people have gone missing during the Russian occupation, according to the Ukrainian government. Many times you can hear them not at their highest level of happiness.Other intercepted messages have offered further evidence of the con-trick which Putin has apparently played on his armed forces.SergiyKyslytsya, Ukraines envoy to the United Nations, read out one text on Monday in which a soldier complained to his mother: We were told we would be greeted with open arms but they call us fascists.The only thing I want right now is to kill myself.Mum, Im in Ukraine. He mentioned World War II to the soldiers, playing on old ideals of Soviet solidarity and about how both his grandfathers had sacrificed themselves during the Great War.

Fear and a lack of understanding of what theyre doing here..

I was standing here, Mykhailo said from outside his housing complex, and I see two soldiers coming, without weapons. Some of the troops acted jumpier than the civilians when they heard fire, several residents said.

They came in here all like we will take Kyiv in three days, said Olena, a local resident who lived through the occupation. Russian troops fire on Europe's largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Ukrainians are selling confiscated Russian tanks on Ebay, Ukraine Live Webcams: A compilation of live streams from Ukrainian territory, Ukranian UFC fighter Maryna Moroz sends message to Vladimir Putin: "F*** you, b****!

Behind the busted-open doors in one building, rooms looked like a hurricane had swept through. But they have an ax. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. The Kremlin is now regrouping as it plots an expected new offensive in eastern Ukraine. I went with them to bury her and the two of them said to me, Father, forgive us. I said, What can I forgive you for if this is what youre doing?. To me, theyre worse than beasts.. According to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the soldier asks his mom to submit the request to the Russian Mothers' Union to make an exchange and release him. Other video footage shows soldiers apparently deserting rather than attacking civilians, while in a text message, one man tells his mother he wanted to kill himself.Messages intercepted by ShadowBreak International offer an insight into the dire morale of Russian armed forces ordered to invade their neighbour in the early hours of Thursday morning.Russian military operations rely on walkie-talkies and mobile phones, both of which are simple to intercept.In one recording, one soldier, apparently speaking from a command centre, says: We will cover the town with artillery fire.The response from the front line is that civilians need to be evacuated first, which the first man grudgingly accepts.In another message, a soldier is heard railing against a shortage of fuel supplies, saying: Weve been here for three days.

There were about 500-600 Russians rotating through the complex at any one time, all of whom left the civilians alone. The soldiers were brimming with confidence, expecting that the nearby capital of Kyiv would fall shortly. With the front line just 500 meters away and ferocious exchanges of fire a daily constant, the Russians in Hostomel expressed shock at the Ukrainians high level of resistance, morale and quality of life. Russia has also apparently been getting more desperate in its attempts to find fresh cannon fodder for the warso much so that the military has begun trawling public employment agencies intended to help the unemployed, according to a new report. In one part of the video, the soldier tells his mother that they have been sent to die and asks her to take care of his son.

Mykhailo said he saw one young Russian soldier crying | Igor Kossov for POLITICO. Explore the live extension of our journalism, The wonk's survival guide to the EU Green Deal, September 29 Future of Food and Farming Summit, November 29-December 1 Sustainable Future Week, Russia and Ukraine to sign Black Sea grain deal Friday, Turkey says, Southern rebellion threatens to sink EU gas rationing plan. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has published in recent days several photos and videos of Russian soldiers captured at its borders.

"Rejecting the idea that Russian deserters should be granted asylum in the West, Mr Wallace said: "I take the view that the best thing that Russian deserters can do is go back to Russia, tell the Russian people they are being deceived, tell the Russian people that their military leaders are causing huge amounts of unnecessary suffering and losses because of either incompetence or arrogance, and they can go back and tell the mothers, who are wondering where their thousands of disappeared sons are.".