In the encrypted messaging application Telegram, the line called “I want to live” is available 24 hours a day. Through this emergency line, Ukraine offers Russian soldiers who wish to defect to help them and ensure their surrender. “Three meals a day and medical care”, these are the words of Volodymyr Zelensky.
A chatbot connects soldiers with Ukrainian operators in one day. The operators receive the calls and are in charge of directing the Russian soldiers.
In exchange for their surrender, Ukraine makes sure to treat them well and to formalize their defection under the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War. It would also allow Russian soldiers to lie about how they were taken prisoner. Desertion is punishable by 10 years in prison in Russia.
Line active since mid-September
Ukraine also offers a large sum of money if the soldier goes with military equipment: “a tank thus gives 50,000 dollars (51,000 euros), a self-propelled gun 15,000 dollars and an armored vehicle 5,000 dollars,” notes Le Monde.
The Telegram loop is followed by more than 28,000 people and the Ukrainian authorities claim to have already received more than 2,000 calls since the service went online on September 16.
Many videos of testimonies have circulated on social networks, such as that of this Russian soldier who allegedly contacted the Ukrainian telephone service two months after being sent to the front.
A video has circulated a lot without being able to authenticate.
A 20-year-old Russian soldier named Anatoli was sent to Ukraine in July. He claims that he “didn’t want to die for Putin’s sick fantasies,” notes the Express. “After three months of training, I was sent to Ukraine. When I saw the power of enemy fire, I understood that I wanted to live and found this channel on Telegram. I found the number and called,” says France Info.
Source: BFM TV
