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They are sound recordings that once again reveal the bitter reality in which Russian President Vladimir Putin sends his soldiers into the fight against Ukraine – recordings that testify to anger, to the hopelessness at the front: the Ukrainian army conducts numerous telephone calls between Russian soldiers and their relatives eavesdropped. The British newspaper Guardian owns the recordings and has now published three.

A recording comes from a telephone conversation between a Russian soldier named Andrei and his mother on November 8, in which he describes his desperation. “Where are the missiles that Putin boasted about?” Andrei asks his mother. The equipment of the Russian armed forces is too poor to attack intended targets. There was talk of ammunition that could decide the battle – but it never arrived.

The provision of food and drinking water is also catastrophic: “Nobody gives us anything to eat, mom”, can be heard in the recording. “We scoop water out of puddles, then we pour it through a sieve and drink it.”

“We could all be slaughtered”

Another recording comes from a telephone conversation between a comrade and his father on November 6. No reinforcements, no communications – that’s the current situation, the soldier describes. The troops just survived a Ukrainian attack. “They said we couldn’t withdraw. Otherwise we could be shot.”

In another recording, a fighter talks to his wife, the phone call took place on October 26. He had fled the bloodshed and was considering deserting. “I’m in a sleeping bag, I’m all wet, I’m coughing and I’m completely exhausted,” he says. “We were all allowed to be slaughtered.”

With the partial mobilization, morale dropped

The sound recordings are a small sensation. In fact, Russia is very careful to avoid publications that provide insight into the devastating reality of its own soldiers at the front. But there are still many Russian soldiers who voluntarily bring mobile phones to the front to talk to their families, cybersecurity expert Dmitri Alperovitch told The Guardian.

The calls can either be intercepted over the air – or as soon as they go through a Ukrainian telecommunications provider. Particularly among the 300,000 Russians that Putin sent into war as part of his partial mobilization, the will to comply with the ban on passing on critical information is limited.

US: Russian leaders disagree over winter offensive

The Russian leadership also seems to doubt the extent to which Russian soldiers are capable of a possible winter offensive against Ukraine. “I think we’re seeing contradictory things,” a US government official said Tuesday. Some in the Russian leadership wanted to launch further offensives against Ukraine. “Others have real questions about Russia’s ability to actually do that.”

Ukraine, on the other hand, despite the winter weather, shows “no intention” to delay the reconquest of Russian-held territories, said the government official, who asked not to be named.

“I think the Russians should take that into account.” The United States would best equip Ukraine with the means to “defend effectively against Russian aggression”.

Putin wants to set new targets

Ukraine warns Russia could prepare a winter offensive – including a renewed advance on the capital Kyiv if the ground freezes. According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with senior military officials on Wednesday to determine his military’s goals for the coming year, nearly a decade after the start of the offensive war against Ukraine.

Russia had suffered significant military setbacks in recent months. The Russian army had to withdraw from the northeastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv and from the city of Kherson in the south of the country, among other places.