‘Russian troops will be sent home in body bags,’ says IDF soldier-turned-Ukrainian special forces operative

Nikolai Mikolivitch, a former Givati combat soldier now in the Ukrainian special forces defending Kyiv, speaks with Channel 12 on March 8, 2022. (Screen capture/Channel 12)
Nikolai Mikolivitch, a former Givati combat soldier now in the Ukrainian special forces defending Kyiv, speaks with Channel 12 on March 8, 2022. (Screen capture/Channel 12)

Nikolai Mikolivitch, a former Givati combat soldier now in a Ukrainian special forces unit defending Kyiv, tells Channel 12 that it’ll take several days before Russian forces manage to breach the capital.

Mikolivitch says the Russians are roughly 10 kilometers from the edge of Kyiv but that they will try and surround the city upon entry.

They will be met by a Ukrainian army determined to send Russian troops back home “in body bags,” Mikolivitch says.

Speaking in Hebrew, the former IDF soldier says the operation has not gone as planned for Russian President Vladimir Putin. “You’ve seen in Israel how many tanks have been burned and the helicopters that have been shot down.”

“Inside Kyiv, thousands of people are waiting for them, armed,” Mikolivitch says.

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