Captured Russian soldiers have slammed President Putin as a “very horrible person” who is leading his people to their deaths “like sheep” in the war in Ukraine.
These two men were taken prisoner last week by Ukrainian forces after their unit was destroyed in a battle on the eastern front line.
Both soldiers are treated humanely and have food and water, where they are kept in a warm location after they surrender.
The prisoners of war were from the Krasnodar and Rostov regions of Russia and said they were convicts who had been pressed into fighting by the Kremlin.
In an exclusive interview obtained by Express.co.uk, the servicemen said Putin had been a “tyrant for 24 years, herding people like sheep” to wars in Chechnya and Ukraine.
One soldier adds: “He is a very horrible person.”
The servicemen with a beard, who seems still in shock from being captured, said some people “respected” the President but that they were “influenced by propaganda”, adding: “When I saw civilians being killed in Ukraine, what it’s like in real life, I was very surprised.”
The men revealed their unit was made up of 30 soldiers, all former convicts, and that only three had survived, with themselves captured and another who had “run away”.
Recent weeks have seen some of the bloodiest fighting on the front line in the east of Ukraine, with the Ukrainian military estimating that Russian forces had lost more than 2,000 soldiers in just 24 hours on several dates.
Speaking of the moment, they became prisoners of war, the soldier without a beard said Ukrainian troops stormed their position in a trench in the woods.
He said: “I got very scared and started shooting, a grenade landed and my gun jammed, and I shouted ‘we surrender’, and we were taken by the Ukrainians.
Detailing how the chain of command works, the Russian continued: “The commander, the person who trained us, he didn’t participate in the attack.
“He was sitting in the faraway dugout, leading us using the radio and that’s it. Commanders never go with us.”
The Russians are being well-treated by their Ukrainian captors and were seen by local Chaplain Alexander, who himself had been captured by Russian forces during the war, and British aid worker and photographer Pete Masters.
Chaplain Alexander said: “I felt no sympathy for them, but I understood that their lives could end at any moment, and they would go to hell.
“It is my duty to provide an opportunity for everyone to know God for the salvation of his soul, because the Lord is really very loving and full of mercy.”
Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge said Putin had “little regard” for the forces he was sending through the “meat-grinder” of war.
He added: “All the reports we have heard from the frontline in Putin’s unprovoked war suggest he has little regard for human life – be that civilian, Ukrainian military or those serving in his own armed forces.
“The impression is of some gains for Russia but at huge cost, through ‘meat-grinder’ tactics that only a brutal dictator could sustain.
“In the face of such a foe, we must continue to stand by Ukraine and, in parallel, strengthen our own deterrence by increasing defence spending and rearming at pace.”
And Alicia Kearns MP, former Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said Putin was continuing to send in his troops as “cannon fodder”.
She said: “Russian morale has long been poor, resulting in a Russian front line reliant on convicts, foreign soldiers, soviet era rations, piss poor weaponry and the threat of being shot for cowardice.
“The distinction with Ukraine, who care about their people, couldn’t be greater. The sons of Putin’s cronies will continue to be protected from committing war crimes in Ukraine, whilst the poorest, most desperate and ethnic communities will continue to be lined up as cannon fodder.”
Former British Army Lieutenant Colonel and author Stuart Crawford said his perception of Russian forces at the moment, especially those “pressed into service” had not been “fully trained”.
He said: “They’ve been trained in the basics, but they are not what I would call professionally trained.
“I noticed these soldiers said while they carried out an assault, the commander was back in the dugout controlling it by radio.
“That just would not happen in the British Army; there would be a junior officer leading, and when I say leading, I mean going first.
“The Russians historically have a completely different attitude to personnel casualties, which to us in the West seems very cruel and uncaring. It’s a completely different mindset.”
