[Report] Russian Soldiers Plot Fake Marriages To Escape Participation in War as More Troops Die in Ukraine

According to an intercepted phone call revealed Tuesday by Ukraine's intelligence service, Russian soldiers sought to plan fake marriages in order to escape the conflict in Ukraine.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), a Russian soldier was overheard discussing an effort to stage a fake marriage proposal as an alternative to warfare. After more than 100 days of fighting, Russian forces are believed to be becoming frustrated.

Russian Soldiers Want To Escape From Ukraine War

The Russian soldier can be heard saying how he asked his colleague to "go to the registry office and file a marriage proposal" in order to avoid the conflict, according to the SBU. However, the soldier was advised that his plan would fail and that the Russian military had recently stepped up its crackdown on defectors, as per Newsweek via MSN.

The SBU allegation is not the first time Russian soldiers have attempted to flee the conflict. According to Ukrainian sources, a Russian officer went so far as to shoot himself in the leg to avoid coming to the front lines.

In other incidents, Russian soldiers are said to have refused instructions and even damaged their own combat machines. Soldiers have been heard complaining that the fight will likely linger on for months and that Russia will continue to suffer large losses.

Russia has handed over the remains of 210 Ukrainian fighters killed in the battle for Mariupol, according to Ukraine's military intelligence service. According to the report, the majority of them were among the final holdouts at the Azovstal steelworks.

The agency did not say how many additional remains are believed to be among the plant's ruins on Tuesday. The damaged port city is currently under Russian hands. It started dumping bodies last week. Ukraine announced on Saturday that the two sides had swapped 320 bodies, with each receiving 160 in return. It's unknown whether Russia has received any additional bodies, AP News reported.

Ukraine Plans To Release "Book of Executioners"

Under constant Russian ground, marine, and air strikes, Ukrainian forces fought the steelworks for over three months before surrendering in May. Russian forces have made no significant progress in the eastern Donbas area, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"The incredibly amazing defense of the Donbas continues," Zelenskyy said late Tuesday in his nightly video address. Zelenskyy believes the Russians evidently did not expect to face so much opposition and are now seeking to bring in extra troops and equipment. He claims that the same is true in the southern Kherson area, which was seized by Russian soldiers early in the conflict.

According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine plans to create a distinct "Book of Executioners" next week containing proven material concerning Russian army war crimes. He claims that those mentioned will include not just war criminals, but also their leaders.

Per Express, Ukrainian official indicated that Russian forces may be leaving from Melitopol in the south as part of a rotation. Oleksandr Starukh, the head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration (Oblast State Administration), made the remarks when it appeared that Russian personnel had mysteriously vanished from checkpoints.

Meanwhile, amid the ruins of Severodonetsk on Tuesday, Ukrainian forces fought Russians street-to-street, attempting to cling on to gains from a surprise counter-offensive that had turned the tide in one of the war's deadliest ground engagements.

The struggle for the small industrial city has become a critical conflict in eastern Ukraine, with Russia concentrating its offensive power there in the hopes of fulfilling one of its stated war goals: totally seizing the neighboring Luhansk region on behalf of separatist proxies.

Following a virtually complete withdrawal from the city in the face of Russian advances, Ukrainian forces launched a surprise counter-offensive last week, forcing the Russians out of areas of the city center. Since then, the two armies have fought across boulevards, both claiming to have killed a large number of people.

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