KYIV, Ukraine — Greater than 1,000,000 Russians have known as, texted or visited the web site of a Ukrainian hotline that enables them to give up, with many in search of a solution to keep away from going to struggle, since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine started, in accordance with the hotline.
The hotline, which is run by the “I Need to Dwell” undertaking, has acquired about 200 to 300 day by day calls since September, mentioned Vitaliy Matvienko, the undertaking’s spokesperson. As a substitute of calling, some Russians select to ship encrypted messages through Telegram. Altogether, greater than 4,000 folks have submitted requests to give up, he mentioned.
“We noticed that there are various Russians who don’t wish to struggle,” Matvienko mentioned. “Their numbers skyrocketed after Putin introduced mobilization in Russia, whereas Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated huge territories within the Kharkiv area in a fulminant counteroffensive.”
Oksana, whose title has been modified for safety causes, solutions calls from Russians at Ukraine’s “I Need to Dwell” hotline, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Dec. 10 2022.
ABC News
Matvienko’s has a face that’s well-known to many Russians, as a result of he acted in a couple of Russian TV collection earlier than the struggle. That’s why he was supplied the function of spokesman of the “I Need to Dwell” undertaking. Ukrainian officers mentioned Russians who’re contemplating crossing the frontline may wish to see somebody acquainted they will belief on the opposite facet.
The hotline is now functioning in a safe secret facility which many officers and navy staffers aren’t allowed to enter. The operators use solely computer systems, headphones and particular software program to just accept and report the calls.
“Lots of those that name are scared, they wish to know whether or not this undertaking is actual and the way it’s potential for a Russian soldier to flee from the military. There have been some prank calls, however most are actual” mentioned Oksana, one of many staff receiving calls on the hotline, whose title has been modified for safety causes.
ABC News reviewed a recording of one among Oksana’s calls, which got here from a girl in occupied Crimea.
The lady appears like she’s virtually in tears as she says her son acquired a summons to the military at a police checkpoint. The lady asks what she might do. The operator’s recommendation was to name the hotline as soon as her son was in Ukraine managed territory. Then they may assess whether or not he may be capable of give up.
Vitaliy Matvienko, spokesperson for the “I Need to Dwell” hotline in Ukraine, speaks in regards to the undertaking in Ukraine, on Dec. 10, 2022.
ABC News
Ukrainian authorities haven’t absolutely disclosed the main points of the give up process, in addition to the variety of Russians who’ve truly surrendered, however some supplied ABC News a glimpse of the way it works.
Individuals first name the numbers talked about on the undertaking’s web page or textual content a chatbot. The operators report folks’s private data, then cross it to the related state our bodies and particular navy items. Later the operator provides directions to a possible defector — the place she or he ought to come and what to do upon arrival.
On the agreed-upon time, the soldier has to return to the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ positions and set up visible contact with a drone, which is able to present the secure passage route.
The Russians who observe the give up guidelines are legally thought-about prisoners of struggle, Ukrainian authorities mentioned. That standing ensures they’re handled in accordance with the Geneva conventions and so they can obtain obligatory medical remedy and meals. They will additionally name their family members.
“Now it’s only a routine job for me, however the first hundred of calls have been robust for me, as a result of as a patriot of Ukraine I hate those that reached out,” Oksana mentioned.
Oksana, whose title has been modified for safety causes, solutions calls from Russians at Ukraine’s “I Need to Dwell” hotline, in Ukraine, on Dec. 10 2022.
ABC News
Amongst these callers have been Ukrainian residents who betrayed their nation and fought on the Russian facet, she mentioned.
The hotline has additionally fielded calls from folks with “passports” from the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk folks’s republics, unusual Russians who have been not too long ago known as as much as struggle and senior commanders who don’t see their future in Russia, Matvienko mentioned.
Excessive-level navy personnel are handled as a precedence, as they might possess useful intelligence.
Sergiy Kuzan, head of the Ukrainian heart for safety and cooperation, mentioned every case is evaluated in another way, making an allowance for the person’s age, origin and navy expertise. The undertaking additionally evaluates folks based mostly on the area the place they’re surrendering, on their training stage and the way the individual was captured, in the event that they have been.
“There have been circumstances when an individual was actually so ‘zombified’ by Russian tv that they actually believed within the junta, in Nazism in Kyiv,” Kuzan mentioned. “That’s, there are medical circumstances I’d say. For such folks we activate our tv, allow them to learn our newspapers, after which folks want somewhat time to understand what is definitely occurring.”
Leaders of the undertaking mentioned they count on to proceed increasing, with plans for a separate program in Ukraine and overseas for members of Russia’s officer corps who’re in search of to give up.
Ukrainian officers mentioned they’re busy placing collectively a brand new program for high-level defectors, a few of whom shall be given new identifies and backgrounds. That packages shall be carried out on a case-by-case foundation, officers mentioned.
