More Reports of Russian Soldiers Surrendering
In the last week, there have been more reports of many more Russian soldiers surrendering, along with the viral quote by one soldier. “This is not our war,” he said, “We want to go home.” News stories are showing photos of handcuffed Russian soldiers in Ukraine who are crying and saying they were “thrown into war” and they didn’t even want to fight, as they begged to go home.
Some of the Russian soldiers surrendering were not given enough food, water, or gas, causing them to abandon their tanks and other military artillery. In addition to the lack of supplies, apparently some soldiers were tricked into combat. “We were told we were going for training,” One soldier told a camera. “Eventually, after we were sent to the front line, everyone was demoralized and nobody wanted to fight.”
Some Russian soldiers surrendering actually intentionally created holes in their gas tanks so it would leak out and they’d have no way to continue on, according to The New York Times.
When possible, the Ukranian Defense is not responding harshly to the Russian soldiers surrendering. The defense ministry actually posted to Facebook on Wednesday that the Russian troops could be picked up by their families.
Here is that post:
When translated, it says, “Mama! Your son is waiting for you [referring to the Russian soldiers]! Ukraine has made the decision to return POW to their mothers if they come to Ukraine.”
The post even explains how Russian mothers can find out the status of their sons and how to get them back to Russia safely, if they have been captured by Ukraine.
As outsiders, we may not be able to serve as the Ukrainians are, but we can pray and support efforts that cause more Russian soldiers to surrender.