Because of his manic desire to "capture Ukraine in three days," Vladimir Putin has thrown into battle even fresh recruits and "alternative servicemen" - conscripts who are involved in public works sectors instead of serving in the army.
A Russian prisoner of war who surrendered himself said this during an interrogation at the Security Service.
The man said he was drafted into the army only a month ago.
"In one month, I have managed to become a Russian soldier, then a war criminal, and now a prisoner of war," said the occupier.
He admitted that the Russian army is not powerful but simply "long", and many Russian army units are the usual ballast. The prisoner stated that Russia had sent his unit to combat as "cannon fodder" because no soldiers had any experience or combat skills.
"Our military task was a distraction. The Ukrainian army fired upon us while someone more prepared was doing their job," the man said.
At the moment, the prisoner is testifying against other invaders and is helping the SSU bring the case to The Hague tribunal. The man does not hope the homeland will rescue him "because Russia does not even take away the soldiers' corpses".
Earlier, one captured Russian told during an interrogation that there are so-called "shooting groups" in the Russian army. Their task is to kill deserters. A member of the relevant parliamentary committee, Fedir Venislavskyy, voiced similar information. He said there were "barricading detachments" of Chechens in the Kyiv region, which prevented the Russian military from surrendering and retreating.
In Russia, data on army losses in Russia are called "fakes". Russia also refuses to take away its soldiers' bodies from Ukraine. Roskomnadzor demands that Telegram remove Internet resources, including bots, which provide information about Russian servicemen who died or were captured during a military attack on Ukraine. The Russian media also forbade calling the war with Ukraine a "war"; instead, they used the term "a special operation".