‘Is this where you can find out if a person is alive?’: Russians search for missing soldiers

CNN broadcasts what it says are audio of recordings of Russians who have phoned a Ukrainian hotline looking for relatives serving in the Russian army.

“Hello hotline, is this the place that you can find out if a person is alive?” one woman says.

EXCLUSIVE: Audio recordings of Russian mothers and wives looking for their sons sheds light on how little was communicated to the soldiers and how little the families know… even now. W/@MarquardtA, @cstreib, @MVicabu & edit by Beatriz Grimalt. #RussianUkrainianWar pic.twitter.com/xRnokbt8U6

— Sebastian Shukla (@sebshukla) March 8, 2022

In another exchange, the Russian relative apologizes for Moscow’s actions.

“Are you from Ukraine?” she asks the operator.

“Yes, I’m from Ukraine,” the operator says.

“I’m sorry! This is not our fault… I’m scared. They didn’t choose this,” she says.

There have been multiple reports that many of the Russian soldiers were not told they were heading for war in Ukraine or were told they would be welcomed by the civilian population there.

Ukraine has sought to undermine Russian public support for the invasion by opening a telephone hotline for Russian parents to find out if their sons are among the dead or captured.

The defense ministry has published telephone numbers and an email address to provide information about captured Russians, and said mothers will be invited to Kyiv to collect their missing sons.

The CNN report broadcasts recordings of some of the calls as desperate relatives search for their loved ones.