War in Ukraine: lines of direct surrender of the Russian army
- Author, James Water House
- Authority, BBC Correspondent in Ukraine
More than 3,500 Russian soldiers and their families have been in contact with the team, according to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian government says its program to persuade Russian troops to surrender receives up to 100 requests per day.
The “I Want To Live” project was launched in September.
By calling a hotline or entering information on a messaging app, Russian troops can arrange the best way to surrender to Ukrainian forces.
Kyiv authorities claim to have received more than 3,500 contacts from members of the assault force, as well as their families.
There has been a marked increase since Russian President Vladimir Putin mobilized hundreds of thousands of Russians, and since the liberation of the city of Kherson.
The BBC received recordings of some of these calls.
As the dark alleys show, the Ukrainian prisoner-of-war processing headquarters is not immune to the power outages plaguing the country.
In a small office, we meet Svitlana, who is not her real name, a Ukrainian telephone who speaks daily to Russian soldiers.
They can contact by phone or on most messaging apps, such as Telegram and WhatsApp.
He explained that the evenings were the busiest, when troops had more free time and could sneak away to make calls.
“First, we heard voices, mostly male,” he explained. “She’s often distraught, partly frustrated, because they don’t really understand how the helpline works, or if it’s just an arrangement.
“There’s also curiosity, as many calls not to give up, but to find out how they can do it if needed. Each time is different.”
The BBC has access to some of the calls made to the helpline.
Svitlana isn’t allowed to tell us how many Russians she has helped, or how exactly it happened. They were simply told to communicate their position before giving them further instructions.
Some Russian soldiers also tried to provoke them, he said, although he said not everyone believed the Kremlin’s baseless claims that Ukraine was ruled by the Nazis.
“We can’t judge the whole country,” he said. “The majority of them fear for their lives.”
Svitlana also recalled a call from a man who lived in occupied Crimea and who had been mobilized to fight against his own family, and his country.
It seems that Moscow has now blocked phone numbers from which it is possible to call in Russia. Calls made from a British or Russian SIM card are greeted with an error message.
Project I Want to Live staff say every call is different.
“Ask yourself: what are you striving for?” says a dramatic voiceover from the Ukrainian propaganda video “I Want To Live”, which is aimed at Russian soldiers.
Explosions appear in sync with evocative music, and we see footage of Russian soldiers appearing to be surrendering before two phone numbers are shown at the end.
They were even asked to raise the white flag if they felt they were getting too close to the front line.
This is, of course, part of the information war. The anatomy of Ukraine’s attempt to demoralize Russia.
On the wall of Svitlana’s office are photographs of Ukrainian prisoners of war. They are all believed to be alive, and this hotline is central to Kyiv’s efforts to bring them home.
Once they surrendered, the Russian POWs could be used as bargaining chips in future exchanges.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, the Kremlin is also conducting more exchanges of prisoners of war in an effort to appease critics from within Russia.
It is believed there were thousands of POWs on both sides, but the exact number is unclear.
Vitalii Matviyenko, who runs the “I Want To Live” project, says it was created to help save the lives of people who go to the hospital.
“We especially wanted to target those who were partially mobilized who not only could not resist but were knocked out like cannon fodder”, explains Vitalii Matviyenko, who directed the device.
“This project was created so that their lives would be guaranteed if they surrendered voluntarily.”
For an outnumbered Ukraine, it was also hoped that this would soften the bowels of the occupiers.
Additional reporting by Daria Sipigina, Hanna Chornous and Moose Campbell.
