Calls intercepted by Ukrainian intelligence forces have revealed Russian soldiers were mere moments away from killing a high ranking general who ordered them to the front line.
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According to Ukrainian intelligence, an intercepted phone call showed that Russian soldiers were on the verge of killing a high general who had ordered them to the front lines.
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Ukraine's Security Services released audio from an intercepted call explaining the scenario on Tuesday.
The conversation, made by a soldier to his wife, recounted a unit in Donetsk engaging in a standoff with Gen.
After he ordered them to battle, Valeriy Solodchuk, commander of the 36th Army.
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The soldier is heard explaining that almost all of the remaining 215 members in the 600-person battalion refused to follow Solodchuk's commands, even though their contracts with the Russian military required them to do so.
"Almost all of our [battalion] refused," the man said in the recording.
Their refusal apparently infuriated Solodchuk, with the man adding that he 'started waving his gun and shooting'.
The man claimed: "He says 'I’ll whack you if you don’t f**king go there.'"
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The intercepted call continued: "Then, a kid says to him, 'Go ahead, whack!'"
In the recording, the man can be heard describing the chilling moment that happened next.
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"He pulled out a grenade, pulled a pin and says: 'Come on, shoot me! We'll blow up together',” he can be heard saying.
“That's it. The special forces guys also started pointing their guns at us. So, we pointed our guns at them."
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The voice then added: "In short, we almost shot each other, for f**k's sake. He got on his bobik [a type of Russian Jeep] and left."
According to a report by Business Insider, the call is understood to be a soldier calling his wife after the confrontation with Solodchuk in Donetsk.
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The war has been extremely costly for Russia as troops and supplies dwindled during the invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
According to Fortune, Russian troops have even resorted to using parts from dishwashers and fridge parts to fix their broken military equipment.
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And the pinch is being felt by the Russian soldiers who apparently revolted against Solodchuk.
The voice on the audio added: "Our brigade can't capture anything because there's f**king nothing left of it."
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Solodchuk's battalion isn't the only one refusing to carry on with the Ukrainian invasion.
According to court documents translated by the Guardian, more than 100 Rosgvardia - or Russian national guardsmen - have been fired for refusing to fight in the invasion.
The 115 cases came to light after a Russian court denied their request to challenge their sacking after refusing to fight.