A Russian soldier complains to a friend that 17 people have been killed by Russian tank fire, once again demonstrating how poorly organized and poorly communicated the Russian military is, according to new Ukrainian intelligence wiretapping data.

The Russian occupier says that the Russian command is sending troops to the offensive in front of the military equipment.

• “Tanks don’t go ahead if people are behind; people walk in front and tanks behind. There are no ordinary bands here; here are only us, recruits.”

According to the occupier, the Russian army is hiding its losses. He also talked about cases of “friendly fire” among the Russian military.

• “We are crushed like a moth. We still have 700 people here. The third battalion arrived. Three shells exploded. They went up to the Urals and left us.”

Then the Russian says that there was a platoon of 30 men.

• “Our tank attacked us – 17 people died. Our people are attacking us here.
• They are crazy. We are ahead, technology is behind.”

In October, Putin tacitly admitted that Russia was not fully prepared to invade Ukraine.

He then called for simplified decision-making in Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, addressing the Coordinating Council, a newly created council designed to meet the military’s needs and bolster support for the invasion.

His comments, and those of some council members, were a tacit admission that Russia was not fully prepared for the resistance it faced in Ukraine, whose capital Kyiv failed to capture at the start of the war in February.