Russian tank driver surrenders in return for £7,500 & Ukraine citizenship in latest blow to ‘humiliated’ Putin
A RUSSIAN soldier has surrendered with a tank in return for £7,500 and Ukrainian citizenship.
The man, named only as Misha, waved the white flag and begged to switch sides after military colleagues ran away and his commander threatened to shoot him.
Viktor Andrusiv, an adviser to the head of Ukraine’s interior ministry, claimed Misha saw “no point in further fighting” and was afraid to return home.
A rendezvous point was then arranged.
An armoured vehicle rolled into view and paused while Ukraine soldiers approached.
Mr Andrusiv said: “A few days ago Misha called us. We passed the information to the military intelligence.
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“They marked the place and he arrived. The drone checked that he was alone.”
He will get the money reward at the end of the war. He was also given access to a TV, telephone, kitchen and shower while fighting rages on.
Ukrainian authorities have identified Russian troops' phones and have regularly been sending texts on how to surrender and hand over equipment.
It is the latest embarrassment to Moscow amid widespread dismay at the targeting of Ukraine civilians.
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As the fighting takes its toll on Russian troops, stories are beginning to emerge of anger and plummeting morale.
One soldier allegedly drove his tank into his commanding officer as he protested horrific losses among his comrades.
Colonel Yuri Medvedev was hospitalised with severe leg injuries after the reported incident.
An intercepted phone call this week revealed a terrified Russian soldier told his gran he wanted to "get the f*** out" of Ukraine and expected the war to be over within two weeks.
The unnamed man said: “I don’t know how God saved me”.
“To be honest with you I would get the f** out of here right now and I don’t care.
“The main thing is to survive the hell. We thought everything would be over in two weeks. It’s been almost a month already.”
He added that Russian troops' legs and hands are frozen up from living in cold trenches.
A soldier in a separate intercepted phone call also complained of comrades getting frostbite and fierce Ukrainian resistance.
And horrific audio revealed the moment Russia' so-called "Butcher of Mariupol" demanded to know why one of his soldier's had not been mutilated for wearing the wrong uniform.
'POWERFUL BLOWS'
It comes as humiliated Putin is said to be facing defeat in Kyiv as Ukrainian troops fought yesterday fought to retake Kherson - the first of Russia's gains.
President Zelensky said his troops had delivered "powerful blows" to Moscow's forces around the capital and urged the Kremlin to negotiate and end to the bloody war.
He vowed he would never let any Ukrainian territory be handed over to tyrant Putin, 69.
And adviser to Ukraine's ministry of defence Markian Lubkivskyi predicted troops could take back southern port city Kherson.
The city, at the mouth of the Dnieper river, fell earlier this month in Russia's first major gain of the war.
But a US defence official said Russian control in the strategic city appeared to be waning as Ukrainian troops fight back.
The official said: "We would argue that Kherson is actually contested territory again.
"We can't corroborate exactly who is in control of Kherson but the point is, it doesn't appear to be as solidly in Russian control as it was before."
Ukraine is now littered with the burnt out wrecks of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles, charred remains of downed aircraft, and the dead bodies of soldiers - many of who were teenage conscripts.
But Putin left at least five injured in Ukraine's largest western city less than 24 hours after vowing to focus his army on the east.
Locals were urged to find shelter after two huge blasts. A fuel storage facility was set ablaze in the attack.
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Thick black smoke was seen rising from a TV tower as air raid sirens were activated in the city, which is just 45 miles from Nato country Poland's border.
TV towers across Ukraine's other cities have also been a target of missile strikes throughout the war.
