The alleged intercept of the conversation was uploaded by Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, who state it is another confirmation that Russians are carrying out the policy of genocide against Ukrainians on occupied territory.
Konstantin is one of the many Russian soldiers currently waging an unprovoked war against Ukraine, which commenced on 24 February. As Russians retreated from territories in Ukraine, harrowing stories of rape, executions, and torture committed by the Russian Army came to light. Intercepts by Ukrainian intelligence services provide even more evidence about the horrendous cruelty which is increasingly being seen as an integral part of Russia’s war strategy, not as an exception. This intercept is a testimony to Russia’s war crimes that many of the victims mentioned on it will not be able to tell prosecutors, as they had been tortured to death.
The call starts with Konstantin telling his mom that he and his guys went to a “sauna” and to “take potatoes” from the locals. Afterward, mother Tatyana informs him that prayer services are being held in church for his health and the health of other soldiers.
Mom: Yes, everywhere in the churches there are prayer sermons for everyone, and for you specifically, for the guys from Altiysk, in Kaliningrad, for all of you. So, honey-bunny, everything is fine.
Then Konstantin tells how the Russian FSB tormented Ukrainian prisoners and how he participated in it.
Son: You know, before my eyes, well I also participated. The FSB guys tortured the prisoners. Do you know what a “rosebud” is?
Mom: No.
Son: You can make 21 rosebuds on a man’s body. 20 fingers and the penis. I beg your pardon.
Mom: Yeah…
Son: Did you ever see how a rosebud opens?
Mom: Yep.
Son: So, it is the same, one cuts skin with flesh off from the bones, all the fingers. And later you do it there [on the penis-Ed]. This is what is called 21 roses on a male’s body. Do you know what other torture I’ve seen?
Mom: Why do you say you took part in this? There are FSB guys there…
Son: Well, we captured the prisoners and drove them there… And while we were waiting for those torture masters, we held them, and we were beating them, we broke their legs so they would not escape….
Son: No, they don’t understand anything.
Mom: Because they are high?
Konstantin also describes how the Russians tortured a civilian to death.
Son: Well, the guys caught an old civilian man, the torture masters told us, took his phone, his phone was confiscated and photos of all our positions were in it.
Mom: Fu*king r*tard c*nt.
Son: He rode around on a bicycle, took photos of our position with a white flag, took pictures of all our positions, and sent them.
Mom: What a jerk, f*ck. That’s why I say you can’t trust them, the khokhols [slur for Ukrainians].
Son: So the old man was beaten with rubber batons, beaten to death. Can you imagine how many hits, how many you need to kill with a rubber ks had to happen, how many hits there had to be… the baton is a “calming” one, as it’s called, they use it in prisons if there’s a riot, every hit causes a bunch of internal trauma… This is how the FSB guys are torturing people here.
And there’s another torture method… forgot how it’s called… the barrel, I think. You put a tube up the ass. And you put some barbed wire inside the tube.
Mom: Holy s*it.
Son: And then you remove the tube, but the barbed wire stays inside the ass. And then you pull out the barbed wire, slowly.
Mom: F*ck.
Son: This is how we… They said that this thing with the wire is from Chechnya.
Mom: And do you know how Ukrainians are treating our guys?
Son: Yep, so there is no mercy, not even a little drop of remorse. We were sitting there, and the prisoner that was brought in, he says: “For my one life, we will take two of yours.” And we’re sitting there and he says: “I don’t care if I die, I’ll die for the truth.” And he’s really screaming there. And I ask: if you don’t care, why are you afraid? And he sits there, like, really, his knees are broke, I broke them, they were twisted. He says to me, “I don’t care;” “Why are you afraid if you don’t care?” “I’m not afraid.” “Then why are you screaming?” He went silent. To morally f*ck a person with just two words, I love it so much.
Mom: You love it?
Son: I love it.
Mom: “I always told you […] If I was there, I would love it, too. We are the same, you and I.”
Then, Konstantin suggests making “21 roses” for Dad.
Son: We’ll start with five, and if he won’t understand, we’ll make another five.
Mom: (laughs)
Why not, he says he won’t have any work anyway, so he won’t need his hands. And if he needs them for this sh*t, then he definitely doesn’t need them. Nah, we’ll start with you know what? We’ll break the finger. The most important one. The right index finger.
Mom: So he won’t show it, or he won’t pick his nose? […]
Son: And if he doesn’t understand, we’ll break two. If two isn’t enough, we’ll break four, in a geometrical progression.
Mom: Is it OK for you to talk about this?
Son: You know, I’m losing it here. This is normal for me now.
Mom: No, you’re not losing it, you’re OK.
Son: We are killing people here.
Mom: Are you sure they are people? What if they get some of your guys?
Son: Yeah, we get it. I’m not even bothered by my conscience anymore. When the number topped 20, I calmed down.
Mom: They are not human.
Son: And I was a kind dude… Oh, how much I want to tell you everything, and for you to see what has changed in me.
“This interception is another confirmation of the policy of genocide of Ukrainians, which the occupiers are implementing in the occupied territories. War crimes are committed en masse against both the military and the civilian population.”
Related:
- Russian war crimes in Katiuzhanka: torture chamber, toilets in classrooms, and stolen lingerie
- Russia turned Bucha into one big torture chamber. Dispatch from Ukraine
- Ukrainians report over 400 cases of rape and other forms of sexual abuse by Russian troops
- “Three Russian soldiers raped my mother and sister. The fourth made me watch.” Hundreds of cases of rape by Russian soldiers in Ukraine
- The Ukrainian Aleppo, or unprecedented terror in Borodianka – Dispatch from Ukraine
