- A Russian-backed separatist fighter reportedly trashed Putin's troops in a call with his wife.
- Ukraine's military intelligence released on Thursday what it said was a phone call between the two.
- Russian troops have been accused of war crimes and other atrocities since the war's early days.
A Russian-backed separatist fighter reportedly told his wife that President Vladimir Putin's troops are war criminals and used a slur for disabled people to call them imbeciles.
Ukraine's military intelligence uploaded a video to YouTube on Thursday of what it alleged was a phone conversation between a soldier from the Moscow-backed and self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and his wife.
During the phone call, the soldier describes disorganization and chaos among the Russian soldiers, using a slur to call Putin's forces morons and comparing soldier infighting to those who mutinied during World War I.
"Like during the war on Potemkin, in the night, they had support come in to help them, and they started firing on themselves, Russians firing on Russians, destroying themselves," he says.
The separatist also purportedly blasts Russian military generals for not understanding the situation on the ground.
"In short, they fucked us for everything," the fighter reportedly says.
The separatist fighter also complains that Russian forces aren't allowing them to rotate off the front lines.
"I just want them to get us out of here," he said, adding that he thinks the Russians aren't allowing soldiers off the front lines because they're afraid they'll desert and never return.
"Nobody is going home, because they won't fucking come back," he said. "And mostly, they are right, because even the guy from the 33rd regiment said, 'this is a one-way ticket, I will leave and not come back.' "
Russian troops have been accused by Ukrainian officials and Western states of committing war crimes and other atrocities against civilians since the war's early days.
Throughout the four-month-long conflict, civilians, journalists, and officials have documented and reported instances where Russian troops have directly targeted Ukrainian civilians with their brutality.
Among the horrors are summary executions and raping of civilians, as well as the indiscriminate bombing of residential areas and hospitals. Ukraine and the West have vowed to prosecute any alleged war crimes.
The soldier's wife is heard in the phone call saying, "the rapes and everything happened there in Ukraine was done by the Russians," but explains that some people say the Russians aren't capable of such a thing.
"They are capable of anything," the soldier replies.
Translations by Nikita Angarski.