‘Eliminate the F**king Prisoners’: Another Russian Commander Orders Execution of Wounded Ukrainians
In a newly intercepted call released by Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate (HUR), the commander of a Russian army unit is heard issuing a direct order that wounded Ukrainian soldiers should be executed rather than take them prisoner.
At the beginning of the conversation, the Russian officer warns his subordinates about the presence of Ukrainian forces. He states that one Ukrainian soldier has already been captured, but three others are still nearby:
“They’re here too – you guys be more careful. We’ve taken one [Ukrainian soldier], and three more are wandering around there.”
The commander then makes it clear that these soldiers are wounded:
“There are three ‘khokhols’ [a Russian slur for Ukrainians] crawling around, they’re ‘three-hundreds’ [military slang for wounded], moving west.”
Then comes the key phrase – a direct order to kill:
“In your situation, don’t take them prisoner – eliminate them.”
The commander explicitly instructs them not to capture the wounded but to immediately “eliminate” them – kill them on the spot.
He continues:
“We’ve already taken one f**ing prisoner but eliminate the others so you don’t have to drag them into shelter and expose yourselves.”
The Russian officer explains that even capturing the wounded for interrogation or exchange is unnecessary – claiming they would just be a burden that could compromise their positions.
HUR says that its special units alone have documented over 150 cases of Ukrainian defenders being executed after falling into Russian captivity, before adding: every war crime committed against the Ukrainian people will be met with just retribution.
Earlier Kyiv Post published another intercepted conversation, where a senior Russian commander orders troops to “mercilessly wipe out” anyone disrupting mission objectives.
“Can you pass this on to the guys now? Everyone who interferes, anyone who disrupts the task with whining or any other actions – wipe them out mercilessly,” the commander barks in a harsh tone.
The caller expresses frustration with soldiers who constantly complain and refuse to follow orders.
“They came there and kept whining the whole time. No matter what we told them – how to do it, how to do it better – they didn’t care at all. They listen to no one, and now they’re trying to whine to get us to take a break or smoke,” he says.
Earlier, the I Want to Live [Хочу жить] project – a Ukrainian state-run helpline receiving appeals from Russian and Belarusian service members wishing to surrender – published another intercepted conversation, exposing the brutal reality of life in the Russian Armed Forces.
In the call, one of the speakers, a soldier, explains that there was a problem within his group: “He 500-ed,” the soldier says.
In Soviet/Russian military slang “500” means refusal to obey orders. According to the speaker, one of his men turned on a radio against orders, revealing the group’s position.
“We already took his stuff, thought he was 200,” says one of the soldiers, using Soviet-era military slang for a fatality implying they considered this soldier already dead.
“He must’ve been killed, must’ve been shot,” the soldier says, indicating that the man’s belongings had already been divided among the group.
Another soldier mentions that the man is supposedly “waiting for an extraction,” meaning he expects to be pulled back from the front. Nevertheless, the first soldier pushes: “He needs to be shot. He needs to be watched and shot.”
According to I Want to Live, conversations like this reveal the true atmosphere within the Russian Armed Forces.
Earlier last year, Kyiv Post interviewed “Maria” who works as one of HUR’s professional eavesdroppers who spoke about the shocking things she hears.
Russia regularly dismisses the content of intercepted calls published by Ukraine, saying they are fake, a claim Kyiv Post put to Maria. She said: “They are all are real even though they might seem insane. Sometimes I can’t believe the words I’m hearing myself, but we have what we have.”
Kyiv Post regularly reposts some of the most revealing and shocking intercepted conversations. Check out more intercepted conversations
Source: Kateryna Zakharchenko