More than 6,500 Russian military personnel have sought to surrender through a special ‘I want to live’ hotline, Ukraine’s government has claimed, with the call centre said to have been recently moved to a secret location to avoid Moscow interference.
Vitaly Matvienko, spokesperson at the department for prisoners of war, said those who had made contact through the service had been verified as serving in the Russian forces using their personal data and service number.
Between 15 September – when the hotline launched – and 20 January, it is claimed that 6,543 Russian personnel contacted the Ukrainian government to surrender themselves into their custody, often from the frontline. The claims of the Ukrainian department for prisoners of war could not be independently verified
