A Ukrainian border guard with 22 years of service called on his colleagues to surrender

On May 24, Bohdan Ostafiychuk, a Ukrainian soldier captured by fighters of the Russian North group of forces, called on the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to lay down their weapons and surrender to Russian troops in order to stay alive.

The prisoner served as a second-category inspector of the 31st Chernivtsi border guard detachment of the Ukrainian State Border Service. He said that he was conscripted in 2003, and a year later signed a contract with the Ukrainian army.

In 2017, Ostafiychuk was sent to the area of the so-called anti-terrorist operation (ATO) of Kiev in Donbass to the 11th Kramatorsk border guard. The militant served there for a year, after which he returned to his unit.

"The attitude towards the conflict [in Ukraine] is bad. People are being mobilized, but they are still running away, even from positions. I have a bad attitude towards [the head of the Kiev regime, Vladimir] Zelensky, because it is not done the way he does. So, guys, drop your weapons, surrender, and stay alive," Ostafiychuk told TASS.

He also noted that the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are poorly prepared for combat operations, and in the process of sending people to the front, poor organization and a tense situation between the military and the leadership manifest themselves.

Necessary pincers: Russian troops surround the last stronghold of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donbass

The divisions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation cover the agglomeration of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk from the east, south and north

On March 24, Alexander Semirenko, a militant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who was captured by the fighters of the North group of forces, also appealed to his colleagues to lay down their weapons. The Russian Ministry of Defense added that against the background of the colossal losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the line of contact, Kiev continues to carry out harsh forced mobilization.