Two intercepted calls were made public on Wednesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Stanisław Żaryn, the spokesman for Poland’s security services, told a media briefing: “Recordings obtained by the Polish intelligence service show that reality in the ranks of the Russian army is a far cry from propagandist messages.”
He added: “Frustration is mounting among the soldiers and they fear being involved in further battles. Many are taking steps to avoid further involvement in military operations against Ukraine.”
Żaryn said that the intercepted calls showed that “morale in the Russian army is very low.”
Looking for a way out
He added that, in one of the recorded conversations, a female official was asking security services about what formal steps soldiers needed to take to avoid returning to the front.
Żaryn told reporters that this demonstrated “the chaos in the Russian army and how soldiers are trying to avoid returning to the war.”
“The troops are increasingly using leave or medical treatment as a pretext to go back to Russia, where they look for ways to avoid returning to the front,” he said.
Criticism of Russia's intelligence services, military leaders
In the other intercepted call, two soldiers are heard accusing Russia’s intelligence services of “distorting reality” in their predictions about how Ukraine would react to the invasion.
“They were supposed to greet us with flowers,” the troops are heard saying, the PAP news agency reported.
The soldiers are also critical of their superiors, accusing them of rashness and incompetence.
“Dumb people are making stupid decisions because they thought that Ukrainians would kiss their feet,” the soldiers can be heard saying.
The recording also suggests that the Russian soldiers are aware that the Kremlin is treating young recruits as cannon fodder, the PAP news agency said.
Żaryn told reporters that the intercepted calls "painted a picture of growing problems" in the Russian army.
“Yet Putin is pressing on with his criminal war in Ukraine, seeking at all cost to sustain the myth of the invincible army, the second army in the world,” Żaryn said.
Wednesday was day 126 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, gov.pl