'We were deceived and used like meat shields': Anger of the Russian soldiers duped into killing

Russian soldiers have urged their families to "rise up against Putin" and accused him of using them as “meat shields” in videos posted online by the Ukrainian Security Service.

One prisoner of war says that everything he was told by his Russian superiors was “bull----”, while another breaks down in tears as he says there was no attempt to pick up the corpses of his fallen comrades.

It comes after the Ukrainian defence ministry invited Russian mothers to travel to Kyiv to pick up their captured sons and take them home.

Military prisoners are increasingly being used as part of a propaganda war being fought on social media in an attempt to undermine support in Russia for Vladimir Putin’s war.

The Ukrainian Security Service is using its Facebook page to post films of wounded, demoralised and weeping Russian soldiers accusing Putin of sending them to fight a war they do not support.

In one video, a young soldier speaking to the camera says: “We were deceived and used like meat shields.”

Another says: “I wasn’t even aware of going to kill [people]. They wanted us to go to war like cannon fodder. All of us were shot immediately.”

The youngest of the soldiers to appear on video, who gave his name as 19-year-old Rakhmankulov Rafik Rushanovich, said: “They said we’d pitch tents in the field and stay there. I didn’t know. I was scared. Don’t come here. Better get together and rise up against Putin. It’s all because of him.”

Smirnov Yevgeny Ivanovich, 21, said: “I didn’t know I was going into Ukraine. I was fooled. We were fooled. They wanted to use us as cannon fodder. We acted like Germans: we attacked people, and they were simply defending their land.

“I can’t understand what Russia wants here. Don’t go to Ukraine. People live their lives here, and the military are defending themselves against the Russian army to protect their families. You’re invading and attacking civilians.” 

Part of the narrative the Ukrainians are attempting to establish is that conscripts who were told they were being sent to defend the Russian border with Ukraine were forced to cross the border and quickly found themselves in combat as part of an invasion force, against their wishes.

A soldier wearing a civilian coat over his army fatigues and apparently speaking to relatives in Russia said: “I can tell you one thing - everything they say to us is bull----.

“I am sitting here with those who brought me and I just don’t understand why we were told all this crap in Russia.”

Others complained they were fighting against “peaceful people defending their territory”, while others said they were “lied to”.

A soldier who seems to be talking on a mobile phone to his family said: “They don’t pick up corpses. Even the funeral did not come.” He then burst into tears.

Kravchenko Pavel Timofeevich, 20, told his captors: “We were in a convoy. When we crossed the border, we asked the commander: ‘What is it for?’ He said: ‘Don’t ask unnecessary questions’. We were surrounded, we didn’t even fight back, we surrendered immediately. The convoy got destroyed immediately. I didn’t want to die. I wanted to live.”

Others also told of being duped into fighting the war. A 22-year-old soldier who gave his name as Knyazev Mikhail Mikhailovich said: “We came here for military drills.” Another, Magomed Gadzhi, said: “They didn’t say anything, just said ‘you’re going’. They said we’d go and come back. There are peaceful people everywhere. No one wants a war.”

A similar story was told by Yura Teyelkov, 21, who said: “The commander said: ‘We’re going’ - and I went. We covered a few kilometres and were shot at. I didn’t know I was going to kill anyone. Everyone gets killed immediately. I had surgery. No one abused me. Mum, dad, I’m fine. I get food, I’m healthy.”

Ukraine claims almost 6,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the start of the invasion, and even Russia has admitted to losing almost 500 personnel with 1,597 wounded. Hundreds more have been taken prisoner or surrendered.

Many of the prisoners of war filmed by the Ukrainian Security Service were filmed in front of a Ukrainian flag. Several had bloodstained bandages covering their wounds.

One man had bandages covering almost his entire leg for what appears to be a severe knee injury. He also had bandages on his hands and injuries to his face.

Another man, with his camouflage jacket over his shoulders like a cloak, moved it aside at one point to show an injured arm. Others have bandaged heads.

A soldier speaking on his phone said: “They sent us to death. The entire battalion has died. Everyone was killed. I’m still alive. They’re putting me on trial. There’s an option of getting swapped as a POW. You can help if you get the public involved. Maybe you go to the village chief. This is how things are.”

The person on the other end of the phone said: “I want you to come home." The soldier replied: “I love you too.

“You go to the village chief and write to the soldiers’ mothers. Those ------s are not taking away the bodies…everyone is killed. Don’t get depressed too much. Just tell them to get POWs swapped. They’re not beating me, not torturing me, giving me food. I love you. Kiss my son for me.”