Former US Ambassador to NATO: Russian soldiers thought they were on a training exercise
Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker says Russian leadership did not tell soldiers the truth about their invasion into Ukraine.
Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker said on Tuesday that Russian leaders did not tell soldiers the truth about their invasion into Ukraine.
"One of the most telling things is what the Ukrainians discovered when they captured some of the Russian soldiers. They interviewed them and the soldiers did not know that they were in Ukraine and on a mission to attack Ukraine, they thought they were on a training exercise," Volker told "The Brian Kilmeade Show."
"What that tells you is the Russian leadership didn't want to tell them the truth because they knew they wouldn't want to do it."
RUSSIAN MOTHERS ACCUSE PUTIN OF USING SONS AS 'CANNON FODDER' IN UKRAINE INVASION: REPORT
Infuriated Russian mothers accused President Vladimir Putin of using their sons as "cannon fodder" for his invasion of Ukraine. According to recent video during which many Russian mothers shouted down a regional governor.
The video surfaced Monday, the same day when Russian police detained approximately 4,500 anti-war protesters, according to The Telegraph.
"We were all deceived, all deceived. They were sent there as cannon fodder," one woman screamed at Sergey Tsivilev, governor of the Kuzbass region in Siberia. "They are young. They were unprepared."
Tsivilev reportedly faced the mothers in a school gym while the incensed women berated him and accused Putin's government of lies.
As The Telegraph notes, it remains unclear whether the shouting women's sons had been killed in Ukraine.
Tsivilev attempted to present Putin's invasion as a "special operation" and not a war, but was met with execration.
Ukrainians cross an improvised path under a destroyed bridge while fleeing Irpin, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Russian soldiers who were interrogated after being captured were reportedly under the impression they were undergoing a military exercise before they learned they were participating in a full-scale invasion.
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Volker, who served as special representative for Ukraine negotiations during the Trump administration, said the moment Russian soldiers learned what they were doing, they started to buck orders.
"You are seeing these desertions. You're seeing a refusal to follow orders," he explained, adding troops are running out of food and fuel.
"They are leaving their vehicles on the road. This is a catastrophe for the Russians and it's Putin's catastrophe. And you have to believe that the generals and the leadership in Russia know this. It's hard for them to do something about it now but the worse it gets, the more they're going to be looking at Vladimir Putin's leadership."
Fox News' Jon Brown contributed to this report.
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