According to an intercepted call, Russian forces are under constant fire from Ukrainian troops in the Kharkiv sector, forcing them to hide in “burrows.”

In an intercepted phone call, published by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) on Wednesday, May 29, a Russian stormtrooper described devastating Ukrainian first-person view (FPV) drone attacks causing heavy losses to Russian troops situated near Kupyansk in the Kharkiv sector.

“Special forces of the Special Operations Center “A” of the SBU, together with their comrades from the Ukrainian Defense Forces, daily destroy the invaders trying to break through the front in the Kharkiv region,” the SBU report said.

The SBU released a radio interception of a conversation between a Russian stormtrooper and his mother. According to the conversation, Russian forces are under constant fire from Ukrainian defenders and are forced to hide in “burrows.”

In the conversation with his mother, the soldier said: “They [command] are taking us out the other day because there is nothing left of us. There should be 126 [soldiers]. But there is nothing [swearword] left there.”

A rumble and a series of explosions are then heard in the background. The Russian serviceman explained that a kamikaze drone just flew over him and his comrades, adding, “Fu*k, I almost s**t myself. It’s the kind of [swearword] that flies and explodes; it destroys [military] equipment.”

“We’re hiding now, [swearword]! I read all the prayers, [swearword]. It’s a homemade drone and it’s stuffed with explosives, [swearword]. It doesn’t drop [ammunition] but crashes into the equipment. If it hits, it’ll be a [swearword],” the Russian soldier said.

When his mother asked if it was possible to somehow shoot down this drone, he answered in the negative, noting that the drone accelerates to 120 kph.

Asked by his mother if they are in a shelter, the Russian stormtrooper replied: “Mom, people here have been sitting without water for 9 days. They drink their own urine. For me, a basin of water would be a joy.”

He and other soldiers live in “burrows” located in the remnants of the forest, where they can only sit.

“And there you sleep, you fight from it, you eat there, there’s a toilet there. Well, how can you call it a shelter?” the Russian soldier told his mother.

“In two nights, we slept maybe an hour. You just close your eyes, some kind of bulls**t [swearword] happens and you’re afraid to sleep. Do you know how much we have left of the company? We have either 63 or 73 wounded, and about 10 people dead,” he added.

Last year, Kyiv Post interviewed Maria [surname withheld], who works for Ukrainian intelligence as a professional eavesdropper. She talked about some of the shocking things she heard.

Russia regularly dismisses the content of intercepted calls published by Ukraine, saying they are fake, a claim Maria denied.

She said: “Yes, they all are real even though they might seem insane. Sometimes I can’t believe the words I’m hearing myself, but we have what we have.”

In another intercepted phone call, published by Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) on May 14, a Russian commander threatened a soldier that barrier troops would kill him and his comrades if they refused to go on an assault in the Kharkiv region.

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/33464