A phone call, intercepted by Ukrainian intelligence, reveals Russian troops in Ukraine nearly killed a general who ordered them to the front lines, Ukrainian Security Services (SBU) says.
On its YouTube channel, the SBU posted the audio of the call and provided a translation. The call was reportedly made by a Russian soldier speaking to his wife. He describes a standoff with Gen. Solodchuk, identified by The Insider as Valerly Solodchuk, commander of the 36th army.
According to the translation, the soldier is heard saying on the audio: “Everyone refused to go to the front line and fight.
"Almost all of our battery refused. He [Solodchuk] started waving his gun and shooting … he says, 'I'll whack you if you don't f*****g go there.
"Then, a kid says to him: 'Go ahead, whack!' … he pulled out a grenade, pulled a pin and says, 'Come on, shoot me! We'll blow up together.' That's it. The special forces guys also started pointing their guns at us. So, we pointed our guns at them.
"In short, we almost shot each other, for f**k’s sake. He got on his bobik [a type of Russian military vehicle] and left."
In March, the U.S. Sun reported that Russian forces have become so demoralized, they are shooting themselves in the legs with Ukrainian ammunition to avoid further fighting.
The outlet said that the Russian troops look for Ukrainian ammunition to use so they can receive medical treatment without it appearing as if their wounds are self-inflicted.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.