Russia has taken its wartime rhetoric with Ukraine to new heights, allegedly threatening Ukrainian soldiers with direct missile strikes on their homes — unless they surrender, put down their arms, or side with the invaders, according to a Wednesday report from the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.
The report claims the threats are being sent in direct messages to Ukrainian soldiers, via SMS or mobile-messaging platforms such as Telegram or WhatsApp.
The messages allegedly include the Ukrainian soldiers' exact location and warn that if they continue to serve Ukraine, "accurate missile strikes will be fired at the places of residence of the phone owner and his family."
The report also suggests that Russian intelligence agencies were behind the attempts at intimidating the Ukrainian forces.
Is the above information wholly credible? It's difficult to say at this point.
For starters, the Ministry of Defence did not specify to whether it believes Russia will follow through on the alleged threats of direct missile strikes, but nonetheless issued a warning to readers to "trust only verified sources."
Second, the defence ministry says that Russia's intimidation attempts are meant to "decrease morale, sow doubt," and ultimately destabilize the "psychological climate" among Ukraine's troops.
Namely, Russian threats that involve personal information — such as names, taxpayer codes, and even private details about the recipient's family — are "intensifying," according to the defence ministry.
The report added that personal information is typically outdated because the recipient has moved, switched military units, or stopped military service altogether.
Still, there is "no doubt that the threats sent are ordinary manipulations of the human psyche," the report states.
Wednesday's news comes just one day after The New York Times reported that approximately 40,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed or wounded by Russian troops, dating back to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February.
Also, the unnamed Times source said that roughly 3 million Ukrainian people are "now living under Russian occupation."
Other media sources are reporting positive news involving the Ukrainian forces:
According to Newsweek, an intelligence update provided by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence says that Ukrainian troops have retaken an important "foothold" from Russia on the Inhulets River in the southwestern Kherson region.
Also, an apparent Facebook post from Ukraine's military reported that an "elite" Russian army unit — which had been trying to advance on a "strategically important highway in eastern Ukraine" — was destroyed in a 14-hour battle.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.