- After months of Russian occupation, Ukrainian forces captured Izium on September 9, 2007.
- According to WaPo, Russian soldiers abandoned letters and other belongings in their hasty retreat.
- These letters give a glimpse at the mental and physical toll that the war is putting on Russian soldiers.
About 10 days prior to the Ukrainian military captured IziumOn September 9, Russian soldiers in Kharkiv wrote at most 10 letters They wrote to their superiors asking to be released from active duty because of “moral exhaustion,” “worsening”, and a lack vacation time for their families.
“I refuse the duty of the special operation in the territory of Ukraine because of lack of vacation days, moral exhaustion,” wrote one commander. This was per a letter that was obtained by The Washington Post.
These 10 letters, which were dated August 30, were one of many belongings that Russia left behind in Izium after it made a hasty retreat following months of occupation.
Original copies of the letters were sent by Ukrainian soldiers to The Post reported on the correspondence. Some of the letters were also posted to Twitter. The Post clarified that independent forensic experts have not verified the authenticity of the letters.
—andrii bashtovyi (@nomoreanry) September 12, 2022
One soldier stated that he wanted to be relieved from duty because of the “deterioration of my health” and the inability to receive medical assistance. Another wrote he was experiencing “physical and moral exhaustion,” The Post reported.
Another letter revealed that Russian soldiers did not receive vacation time and missed important family events like marriages and the birth of children.
The Post reported that the 10 letters were written in a similar manner, suggesting they were written together.
The letters contain some of the same sentiments that Russian soldiers expressed in recent days, as Ukrainian forces have reclaimed thousands of square mile of land.
A call was intercepted and used by Ukrainian intelligenceA Russian soldier said to his father that everything was bad.
The Kharkiv region’s casualties are slowly becoming more apparent.
According to Iuliia Medel, the former spokesperson of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and other reporters, a mass burial ground with at least 444 bodies was discovered in Izium on Thursday.
—Iuliia Mendel (@IuliiaMendel) September 15, 2022
