Ukrainian Defense Ministry intelligence intercepted what they say is a phone call from a Russian soldier to his wife. "We are going to wipe everything out," the military man says, citing orders from Putin, who will want the situation in the Donbass resolved by May 10.
Ukraine's Defense Ministry tonight released the recording of Russian military communications intercepted by Ukrainian intelligence, according to which Vladimir Putin reportedly ordered his troops to "wipe out" any cities they fail to conquer.
"Putin said that if we don't do anything by May 10, we will wipe everything out," is heard on a recording, allegedly of a Russian military man's conversation with his wife. The recording was released this evening by the Ukrainian government in a video released via the social network Telegram.
In that message, Ukraine's Defense Ministry considers that this conversation "confirms that Russia has purposefully switched to tactics of destruction of Ukrainian cities and crimes against civilians under direct instructions from the country's top military and political leaders, including President Putin." This is the conclusion the Defense Ministry's intelligence services reportedly reached after analyzing the intercepted communications.
"As part of the work of the Interdepartmental Coordination Center under the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, with the participation of the National Police of Ukraine, another interception of conversations between enemy troops reveals the Russian command's plans on the war in Ukraine," says the message released by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
In the conversation made public, a Russian military man identified as Oleg Karasev reveals to his wife the instructions he received for the new actions in Ukraine. "Putin said that if we don't do anything by May 10, we're going to wipe everything out. We are still trying to 'liberate' Rubizhne, and we are razing Lysychansk and Severodonetsk. We won't even try. Our forces can't advance," the military man reports, about the Russian offensive to conquer cities in Lugansk. (CNN)