The ‘I Want to Live’ project says it receives up to 100 requests per day from the Russian military
According to the Ukrainian government, a new system created to assist Russian soldiers who want to surrender receives up to 100 requests per day.
The “I Want to Live” project (“Eu Quero Viver”, free translation into Portuguese) was launched in September.
By calling a hotline or sending data via messaging apps, Russian soldiers are given advice on how best to find the best way to surrender to Ukrainian forces.
Officials in Kiev say they have received more than 3,500 connections from the occupants, as well as their families.
In recent months, demand for the service has increased since Russian President Vladimir Putin mobilized hundreds of thousands of Russian men into the war and the city of Kherson was removed from Moscow’s control.
The BBC took recordings of some phone calls.
As the dark corridors have already shown, the headquarters of the Service for the Treatment of Prisoners of War in Ukraine is not immune from the power outages that plague the country.
In a small office we meet Svitlana (not her real name), a Ukrainian clerk who talks to Russian soldiers every day.
They can be reached by phone or most messaging apps like Telegram and WhatsApp.
He explains that the nights were busier because soldiers at that time had more free time and were able to escape the surveillance of their superiors and search.
“We often hear a male voice,” she explains. “Most of the time it’s a bit hopeless, a bit frustrated because they don’t fully understand how the hotline works or whether it’s just a trap.”
“There’s also curiosity, because most of them call not to surrender, but to find out how they can do it if necessary. It’s different every time.”
Svitlana is not allowed to tell us how many Russians she helped or exactly how. The military is only instructed to share the location before further instructions are given.
Svitlana reported that some Russian soldiers were also contacted to provoke provocation, but not everyone believes the Kremlin’s unfounded claims that Ukraine is ruled by the Nazis.
“We can’t judge an entire country,” he says. “Most of them worry for their lives.”
Svitlana also remembers the phone call of a man who lived in occupied Crimea and mobilized to fight against his family and country.
It looks like Moscow has now blocked Ukrainian service phone numbers within Russia. Chip calls from the UK or Russia started to hear an error message.
“Ask yourself the question: what are you fighting for?” he asks.
Explosions appear in sync with the evocative music. There are footage of Russian soldiers surrendering before two phone numbers are shown at the end.
They are even instructed to wave a white flag if they are too close to the front line.
This is, of course, part of the information warfare and illustrates the anatomy of Ukraine’s attempts to demoralize the Russians.
On the walls of Svitlana’s office are pictures of Ukrainian prisoners of war. They are all believed to be still alive, and this hotline is critical to Kiev’s efforts to bring them home.
When they surrender, Russian prisoners of war can be used as currency in future exchanges.
According to the US Institute for War Studies, the Kremlin is also conducting more prisoner-of-war exchanges as it tries to appease critics inside Russia.
It is believed that there were thousands of POWs on both sides, but the exact numbers are uncertain.
“In particular, we want to target the partially mobilized ones who are not only unable to fight, but are also used as cannon fodder,” says Vitalii Matviyenko, who runs the Ukrainian service.
“This project was created to guarantee the lives of these people if they voluntarily surrender.”
For Ukraine, outnumbered in the conflict, efforts are also expected to demobilize the occupier’s forces.
Additional reporting by Daria Sipigina, Hanna Choronous and Moose Campbell.
– This text was published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-63828697.
source: Noticias
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.