A moving video appears to show a captured Russian soldier break down in tears as he sips tea and Ukrainians call his mother to tell her he’s OK.
The unverified video shows the disheartened soldier after he apparently surrendered, surrounded by several people and cars. He’s bundled up, sipping tea and munching on a pastry while a woman holds up a cellphone in an apparent video call with his mom.
“Compare the compassion here to Putin’s brutality,” said BuzzFeed correspondent Christopher Miller, who shared the viral clip to Twitter. The video circulated on messaging app Telegram, Miller said.
A man off-camera can be heard saying in Ukrainian that the soldiers “don’t know why they are here,” according to a translation by the US Sun.
“These young men, it’s not their fault,” the man is heard saying in Ukrainian, according to the translation.
The soldier cries as he is apparently faced with his mother on the video call. He says nothing but fights to keep his composure as he eats and drinks, ending by blowing a kiss to his mom.
The clip surfaced amid reports that Russian soldiers are sabotaging their own vehicles and surrendering. Radio clips intercepted by a British intelligence firm allegedly caught some Russian troops crying and complaining of a lack of supplies.
“The way he is chugging down that tea and food it seems like he hasn’t eaten in days,” one Twitter user said of the heartbreaking video.
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“So beautiful to see these wonderful people have not lost their humanity,” said another. “God bless them and the young soldier.”
One user saw the clip as a sign of optimism amid the brutal reality of the Russian invasion.
“This is heartbreaking and in the same breath gives you hope for humanity,” the user wrote.
