Ukrainian driver roasts stranded Russian soldiers: 'Can I tow you back to Russia?'
Amid the death and destruction in Ukraine, some videos viral on social media have generated pride, hope and optimism. In a recent clip that has surfaced, a Ukrainian driver was seen roasting Russian soldiers who ran out of fuel and got stuck on the road. In a minute-long video, a man can be seen driving up to a Russian tank and a group of Russian soldiers.
“Are you guys broken down?” the man asks the Russian soldiers. “Out of fuel,” one of them responds. “Can I tow you back to Russia?” the Ukrainian says, following which some can be heard laughting.
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The conversation continues, and the Ukrainian man asks the soldiers if they know where they are heading. One responds, "To Kyiv," and goes on to ask, "What do they say on the news?” The Ukrainian responds, “Well, while everything is on our side, yours and prisoners surrender well.” He then says then he has asked a "whole column" and "no one knows where they are and where they are going.” The Ukrainian can be seen driving away.
A priceless exchange of a brave Ukrainian citizen with Russian army stuck out of fuel. ENGLISH SUBTITLES.
— Ali 🇺🇦🕊 (@aliostad) February 26, 2022
[Thanks to my Ukrainian friend for transcription and translation] pic.twitter.com/Rar3WRXEwD
Meanwhile, members of the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia have claimed that some of Vladimir Putin's young soldiers sent to fight in Ukraine were actually tricked into enlisting. The members have claimed that the soldiers, who were sent off to the conflict, were taken to the border after being told that they were heading there for practice drills. The soldiers, according to the committee, were beaten if they tried to back out.
The non-governmental committee formed in 1989 released a statement, with Andrei Kurochkin, the deputy chairman of the group, telling Russian site Takie Del, "We've had a flurry of calls from scared mothers all over Russia. They are crying, they don’t know if their children are alive or healthy." "If there is a war, then professionals should deal with it, not untrained green guys," he added.
The young men were allegedly told that they were going to the border for drills. "They are switching entire regiments to contract [soldiers,] although the guys did not submit any formal requests for this, and took no such initiative," Kurochkin said. "There are instances of physical violence, and beatings of those who refuse to become contract soldiers. And after that, it’s completely unknown [what happens to them] because they take away their phones." The group is set to file a formal complaint with the Chief Military Prosecutor’s Office.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine in an attempt to "defend separatists in the east of the country". "I have made the decision of a military operation to protect the people of the Donbas separatist region," he said in a television statement. The President urged Ukrainian soldiers to lay their arms down and head home. Putin announced the military operation on Thursday, February 24, with explosions heard across Ukraine soon after. Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations told the Security Council that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “declared war on Ukraine".