

Russian authorities recast the failed campaign as a feint, and soon many of the same soldiers will be sent to fight and die in the east.
— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 28, 2022
On April 1, Ukrainian forces enter the liberated territories of the Kyiv region.
Read our full investigation: https://t.co/B6s4rAoKOI
Intercepted phone calls made by Russian soldiers during the first days of the Ukraine invasion, obtained by @nytimes, provide damning accounts of battlefield failures, contempt for leadership and the execution of civilians. Our new investigation: https://t.co/B6s4rA6BAA pic.twitter.com/tNUwx47o7S
— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 28, 2022
Just two weeks into the invasion, on a phone shared by members of the 331st Airborne Regiment, a soldier estimates a third of his regiment is gone. Another describes rows of coffins containing the bodies of 400 paratroopers waiting to be returned home from an airport hangar. pic.twitter.com/LMCyFkfHYj
— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 28, 2022
Back home in Russia, mounting deaths are reverberating in military towns. Relatives describe rows of corpses and coffins arriving in their cities. Some families say they have begun to see psychologists. A woman says wives are "going crazy" and "even writing to Putin." pic.twitter.com/BWKmGscQSp
— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 28, 2022
The soldier tells his mother he's seen a "sea of corpses in civilian clothing" in a forest near his division headquarters. "I’ve never seen so many corpses in my fucking life. It’s just completely fucked."
— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 28, 2022
Another describes civilian bodies left scattered across the roads. pic.twitter.com/c8Pmp6A4YE
In what may be evidence of war crimes, one soldier says his captain ordered the execution of three men who were “walking past our storehouse” because they could “give away our position.” He tells his girlfriend: "We would have had to feed them, and we don’t have enough food." pic.twitter.com/JDpyp2STSF
— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 28, 2022
In more than 4,000 calls, made by dozens of men in airborne and National Guard units, Russian soldiers say they were “fooled like little kids” by commanders who told them they were going on a training mission, and that they are now suffering heavy losses. pic.twitter.com/JrGfOt7zWF
— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 28, 2022
In candid calls to friends and family back home, Russian soldiers fighting in and around Bucha in March say they are losing and that President Vladimir V. Putin is “a fool.”
— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 28, 2022
"They wanted to fucking do it in one fell swoop here, and it didn’t fucking work like that," one says. pic.twitter.com/kJr3TcG7rK
Many say they want to quit or desert, promising never to put their kids in the military. But they say their commanders have threatened them with prison time if they end their contracts — a scare tactic that had no legal grounds at the time, a Russian human rights lawyer told us. pic.twitter.com/G5LTUTpsed
— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 28, 2022
Others fear losing their military salary. Soldiers say they are earning $53 per day in combat pay, which is triple the average salary in a place like Pskov, the hometown of many paratroopers. One wife says: “I don't need your fucking money. I just need my husband back.” pic.twitter.com/DauQKrhezN
— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 28, 2022
Amazed by the relative luxury of Ukraine, the soldiers loot freely, often encouraged by their commanders. One takes flat screen TVs, another finds 5.2 million rubles in a safe. When his partner tells him to put it back, he says: “I’m not an idiot." pic.twitter.com/ioBp5bx1tI
— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 28, 2022
The calls reveal a stark contrast between the soldiers’ horrifying reality and the rosy picture back home on Russian media. One soldier calls asking for news about the war. “Victory here, victory there. That’s all we see,” his father says. pic.twitter.com/g9XCnIyuJf
— Evan Hill (@evanhill) September 28, 2022