Russian fighters are sharing tips on how to intentionally damage their own equipment and thwart Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military plans in Ukraine, according to recordings of telephone conversations of alleged Russian troops intercepted by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
One regiment allegedly claimed that a Russian soldier had poured sand into the fuel systems of the tanks to clog them.
“I don’t follow stupid orders, I just refuse,” one fighter can be heard saying to a comrade. “The bastard sent me in tanks, you piece of shit. I fucked him up and that’s it. “
When a fellow Russian soldier on the other end of the line heard that the detachment had not been punished for disobedience, he indicated that he could repeat the tactic later in his own unit.
Another Russian fighter told a family member that he and his comrades had deliberately damaged their tank – the latter remaining in their regiment – to thwart the attack plan, according to another interception shared by the SBU.
“We have one tank left in the regiment,” he said. “In short, we broke our tank in the morning so we wouldn’t go.”
At the time of the invasion, Russia’s war plans did not develop the way Putin wanted, leaving Putin disappointed and on the brink, according to a senior US defense official. One of his main goals was to take the capital Kyiv and form a pro-Putin puppet government. But his troops wavered outside the capital for days and had countless logistical problems, particularly fuel problems, according to the defense official.
And while some U.S. officials have been saying for weeks that it is sometimes unclear whether the Russian military’s failures are due to a lack of planning or simply poor implementation of plans, intercepted calls show that in some cases the answer is much simpler. The troops themselves do not obey orders and deliberately sabotage military efforts.
The mainstay of the war are images of Russians abandoning their equipment and weapons. Russia’s military morale has been low since the beginning of the invasion and has not improved; Russian troops have begun posting on social media, asking for donations for the military effort, showing side-by-side comparisons between their grim first aid kits and Ukrainians.
Russia’s military efforts are not hampered from within. Inspired by intercepted phone calls from Russians, the Ukrainian government has encouraged other Russian troops to disobey orders and refuse to attack, reiterating previous calls to surrender and abandon the path of war.
“The SBU welcomes this practice,” the SBU said in a statement on Friday. “But even it can be improved – just ‘give up’ and leave the war in Ukraine!”
Ukrainians have resisted since the first day of the war, surprising Putin along the way, according to the Pentagon.
The Pentagon is also providing key intelligence that has helped Ukrainians target key Russian assets, including the Russian warship Moscow, which sank in the Black Sea after being hit by Ukrainians in a missile strike in April, according to The Washington. Post.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby acknowledged efforts to share intelligence, but said the United States was not involved in the attack.
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