Kathrine Frich
Wars are often discussed through maps, casualty figures and official statements, but their reality is most sharply felt far from press briefings.
Private conversations, stripped of slogans and political framing, can offer a raw glimpse into what families experience when the conflict reaches their homes.
One such exchange has now emerged from Ukraine’s intelligence services.
Intercepted conversation
Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Service (GUR) has released an intercepted phone call in which the mother of a Russian soldier describes graphic scenes from the front in Ukraine.
According to the recording, the woman says her son showed her a video filmed on his phone during his deployment.
“Alyosha came home… ‘Mom, do you want to see the video?’ And he opened it, and I said, ‘Oh my God!’ There were pieces of meat lying everywhere… torn off legs, severed heads. It was like a slaughterhouse, a garbage dump. A head was lying there, with its eyes open,” she said, according to the interception published by the Kyiv Post.
The call does not specify where or when the footage was filmed.
Trenches filled with bodies
The woman continues by describing what she believes the video showed about conditions at the front.
“That’s what they do, a dump, damn it, a special operation of shit. Especially, do you know where they are (the remains of the bodies)? In the trenches. It’s like someone threw them out of a truck,” she said.
According to the Kyiv Post, independent assessments suggest Russian troops are operating under extreme pressure, facing both heavy losses and severe psychological strain.
Mounting casualty estimates
Western and Ukrainian analysts have consistently reported high Russian casualties.
The Institute for the Study of War and the British Ministry of Defence estimate that Russia has maintained between 500,000 and 650,000 troops in and around Ukraine since 2024, with daily losses averaging 900 to 1,200 killed or seriously wounded.
For 2024, Icelandic researcher Ragnar Gudmundsson estimated Russian losses at about 427,000 soldiers.
Ukraine’s General Staff placed the figure at 430,790, while Ukraine’s top military commander Oleksandr Syrsky said in January 2025 that losses were “between 420,000 and 430,000.”
Worse than past wars
Ukraine’s state run “I Want to Live” project claims Russia lost 281,550 soldiers between January and August 2025 alone.
Analysts cited by the Kyiv Post say these figures appear credible.
If accurate, they suggest a Russian soldier deployed today faces a significantly higher risk of being killed or wounded than a Soviet soldier during World War II.
Despite these losses, President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said Russia will continue fighting until it controls the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions.
Sources: Kyiv Post, Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Service, ISW, Digi24.
