From "abused them" to "kill them all": Intercepted phone calls from Russian soldiers are shocking
Created: 04/17/2022, 06:04
By: Christina Denk
The Ukrainian security service SBU has been intercepting Russian telephone calls for weeks.
The recordings are shocking.
The soldiers report rapes and looting.
Kyiv - Allegations of Russian war crimes: They are becoming more and more common in the escalated Ukraine conflict.
Most recently, the alleged atrocities in Bucha triggered an international outcry.
Private phone calls from Russian soldiers continue to shed light on the extent of the crimes.
Russian soldiers brag about violence - and are even encouraged by their families.
Ukraine: Russian soldier brags in phone call about atrocities against prisoners of war - 'cut off fingers'
"Now I know that my 'tractor' can easily run over a car," reads one of the messages intercepted by the
SBU
, Ukraine's security service, in recent weeks.
The Russian soldier in the audio recording was reportedly stationed near Kyiv.
“I drove at a bloody 40 km/h.
I fucking flew over it.
I thought I wouldn't land on the tires anymore," he continues to tell his interlocutor, according to the translation of the recording.
“They brought prisoners here.
I abused her: 'I'm going to cut off your damn fingers!
I'll cut off your damn wrist!
Put her on a shovel, on a brick!'
'Aaaaah!' he yells”
A Russian man in a phone call intercepted by the Ukrainian security service
Another audio message released by the
SBU
is said to have come from a man bragging to a friend about his atrocities against Ukrainian prisoners of war.
“They brought prisoners here.
I abused her: 'I'm going to cut off your damn fingers!
I'll cut off your damn wrist!
Put her on a shovel, on a brick!'
'Aaaaah!' he yells,” the man said.
He admits that even his colleagues are surprised by his cruelty, writes the
SBU
.
Two women at a bus stop in Mariupol on April 14.
In a nearby town, Russian soldiers are said to have been deliberately asked to kill civilian victims.
© victor/XinHua/dpa
Ukraine war: Relatives encourage Russian soldiers - even to rape
The security service writes on its website about numerous phone calls in which Russian soldiers brag about their trophies and looting.
"Their relatives don't criticize them.
On the contrary, they encourage looting and even place orders," the
SBU
said .
The encouragement in a phone call between a soldier and his wife is particularly shocking.
"Come on, rape Ukrainian women, but don't tell me about it," she giggles on the phone, according to the translation.
When the man asks, the woman explains: "Yes, I allow it.
But use birth control.” The conversation is said to have been recorded in the Kherson region.
The rape of a 16-year-old is also reported in some media.
The SBU
did not publish this call
on the website.
"We hear more and more often about rape and sexual violence," said Sima Bahous, director of the women's rights organization UN Women, at a briefing of the UN Security Council.
She called for independent investigations.
Some news sites, including Radio Free Europe, have now succeeded in finding out the identities of the two callers.
The
SBU
also knows the faces behind the phone calls.
"We know the phone numbers and that allows us to trace the entire chain and get the full story," Artem Dechtiarenko (31), spokesman for the Ukrainian domestic intelligence service
SBU
, told
BILD
.
In total, the
SBU
has now opened 2,882 criminal cases in connection with Russia's war in Ukraine.
Ukraine War: Phone calls reveal active call for civilians to be killed
In addition to rape and looting, a phone call between a commander and a Russian soldier actively incites violence.
"Damn it, kill them all," shouts a commander there.
The English translation of the
SBU
phone call shows the soldier asking: "The whole village here is made up of civilians." "What's wrong with you, civilians, kill them all," is the reply.
Said village is said to be near Mariupol.
Allegations that Russia would deliberately attack civilian positions in Ukraine have been repeatedly denied by the Russian side in the past.
For example, in the attack on the theater in Mariupol.
Numerous civilians were also injured in Kramatorsk.
All current military developments are available in the news ticker.
(chd/dpa)
