More than 6,500 Russian military personnel requested to surrender through the “I want to live” hotline, the Ukrainian government claims. The call center was recently moved to a secret location to avoid interference from Moscow. “During the liberation of Kherson, we received calls from Russians and they told us: ‘Just save our souls because we are stuck somewhere in the mud, we have 10 soldiers left, please take us out of this mess.’
Ukraine has launched the ‘I want to live’ hotline encouraging Russian military personnel to surrender. 6,543 Russian military personnel have surrendered since the hotline was launched in September 2022. The call center was recently moved to a secret location to avoid interference from Moscow. Vitaly Matvinko, a spokesman for the Prisoners of War Department, said that those who contacted the service were verified as serving in the Russian forces using their personal data and personal number.
Between September 15, when the hotline was launched, and January 20, 6,543 Russian military personnel are said to have contacted the Ukrainian government to turn themselves in, often from the very front line. The hotline, established by 10 operators, was established following Vladimir Putin’s announcement of the recruitment of 300,000 civilians with prior military experience to join the Russian war effort.
Matvinko declined to comment on the number of surrenders but described the line, which is manned 24/7, as “successful”, with between 50 and 100 calls and messages received daily to the service’s Telegram channel.
According to him, the call center was moved a month ago from the department’s offices in Kyiv to a secret location due to fear of Russian attacks. 2 million people visited the ‘I want to live’ website in December alone, of which 1.6 million were in Russia.
Those who turned themselves in are offered the opportunity to be part of a prisoner exchange arranged between the governments of Russia and Ukraine, or to remain in custody with the potential to remain in Ukraine later, or to emigrate, according to the ‘Guardian’.
A total of 1,646 Ukrainian soldiers were released by the Russian government as part of such exchanges, Matvinko said. The latest deal was completed on January 8 when 50 soldiers from each side were exchanged, with negotiations for others continuing.
Matvinko said there are two stages to surrender. “The first step is Russian soldiers recruited, or not yet recruited, they call this hotline and say: ‘I’m going to surrender’, after that he is obliged to leave his personal details. After the soldier arrives on the territory of Ukraine, he is obliged to call again and say ‘I’m going to surrender And Ukrainian operators help him get to a safe place where he meets Ukrainian special forces.”
According to him, the levels of interest in the line depend on developments on the battlefield. “During the liberation of Harson, we received calls from Russians and they told us, ‘Just save our souls because we are stuck somewhere in the mud, our battalion has completely disintegrated, we have 10 soldiers left, please take us out of this mess.'”