"I can only say thank you for saving my life," - a captured Russian conscript who blew himself up with a grenade in order not to surrender has confirmed that in Russia, soldiers are programmed to commit suicide, being told about the long and painful torture in captivity.

Fyodor, a conscript from St. Petersburg, told a UNIAN journalist how he blew himself up together with a comrade when the Armed Forces of Ukraine approached his position in Russia's Kursk region.

"I took out a grenade. He [his comrade] said, "Let's do it." We hugged each other, threw it on the ground and said some last warm words to each other. The comrade also has a leg wound. At that point, I had already realized three times that I was closer to death. We were afraid to surrender, we didn't know what would happen here. We were afraid that there would be long and painful torture. But considering how it is in reality now, I can only say thank you for saving my life and curing me," he said.

According to Fyodor, he was given first aid by the Ukrainian military. They shared water and cigarettes with the prisoners and brought medicine to the wounded from other dugouts.

📹: Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News

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[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 7 points 3 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

AFAIK it's more of a nudge-theoretic information bubble. Most people will just listen to the news put right in front of them. Russian language independent outlets targeted at Russia exist, but obviously are facing an uphill battle to distribute their stuff there, and if they do get through there's no way for a person to know they're not just a different kind of propaganda. Plus, the version Russian media tells is much more flattering to you, a Russian.

If you're the kind of person who's ends up on Lemmy, you may be willing to learn English and expose yourself to the outside world, however ugly what you find is. Most people are not that savvy, though.