Russian troops in Ukraine are trying to arrange fake marriages as one of an array of tricks to get back home, Ukraine’s intelligence agency said on Tuesday (NZT Wednesday).
The SBU released a wiretapped conversation between a suspected Russian soldier and his friend who were discussing their acquaintances’ unsuccessful attempts to get out of Ukraine.
“No options at all: either you get wounded, killed or there’s an official order to withdraw,” the unidentified soldier was heard saying.
The man said his fellow soldiers were trying all options. The soldier himself decided that a fake marriage might be a solution.
“I’ve already told a female friend: ‘Can you go to the registry office and file for a marriage?’” the man said in a phone chat peppered with expletives.
“Anyway, I was told: ‘No way. This is not an option’.”
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As the invasion of Ukraine enters its fourth month, there are growing signs of low morale among Russian troops who are apparently desperate to rotate out of Ukraine.
Commanders tighten the screws
But the SBU said Russian commanders had tightened the screws on leave as an increasing number of troops were trying to wriggle their way out of going back to the front or were looking for excuses to return to Russia.
Military analysts say Russian forces are overstretched and that the country will soon run out of combat-ready units.
Some fighters also refused to go to Ukraine at the start of the war. Numbers are not known but last month a Russian court ordered the dismissal of more than 100 National Guard officers who had refused to deploy to Ukraine in February.
Several similar cases are pending trial as soldiers and officers contest their dismissals.
Russia never formally declared a war in Ukraine, preferring to call it a “special military operation”, which makes it possible for draftees or police forces to turn down a potential deployment.
