An intercepted phone call between a Russian soldier and his mother suggests that War in Ukraine is expected to grind on for the next three years.
“Basically, what they’re telling us is that this crazy situation is here to stay until ’26. Russia’s going to be ‘reclaiming territories’,” he said.
The intercepted call was published by Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR).
While the exact date of the intercepted call is not known, the situation for soldiers on both sides is difficult as Ukraine’s summer offensive gains momentum.
However, the release of such intercepted conversations by Ukraine’s intelligence services indicates that Russia’s military finds itself in a much more dire situation, with soldiers coming to fear their own side as much as that of their Ukrainian adversary.
Drone War Escalates
Kyiv and Moscow traded more kamikaze drones overnight, with Russia claiming it had downed 13 overnight as its own UAVs destroyed an oil depot in the Rivne region of Ukraine.
The Kremlin said early on Thursday morning it had intercepted 11 Ukrainian drones near Crimea overnight, as well as two drones flying toward the Russian capital.
“Two UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) flying in the direction of the city of Moscow were destroyed,” the Russian defense ministry said in a statement on Telegram.
It claimed two Ukrainian drones were shot down near the city of Sevastopol on the Crimean coast, and “another nine were suppressed by means of electronic warfare and crashed in the Black Sea.”
The ministry said there were no reports of damage or casualties in any of the affected areas.
Meanwhile, multiple air raid alerts were issued across much of Ukraine overnight including the capital Kyiv, as air defenses tracked Russian kamikaze drones in the skies above the country.
The western Ukrainian region of Rivne was subject to a “massive” attack, the head of the local administration, Vitaliy Koval, said in a post on Telegram, adding: “Unfortunately, an oil depot in Duben was destroyed.”