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As scores of Russian men resort to increasingly desperate measures to dodge Vladimir Putin’s newly announced draft, soldiers on the battlefield are warning that morale there is not any better.
A man identified as a Russian soldier in Ukraine’s Kherson region can be heard venting to his partner back home about “fuck face” Putin and mocking the mobilization in audio released Tuesday by Ukrainian intelligence. The 4-minute clip, described as an intercepted phone call, was recorded a day after Putin signed new legislation imposing lengthy prison terms against any soldiers who refuse to fight.
“What are we gonna do?” says a woman in the recording who appears to be the soldier’s wife or girlfriend.