Grim details of how Russian soldiers shoot themselves in order to escape the horrors of fighting on the front line in Ukraine have been laid bare by one of President Vladimir Putin's own men.
Today (February 24) marks exactly one year since the Russian despot demanded troops invade neighbouring Ukraine.
Since then, Russia has lost more than 588,000 soldiers, with more than 440,000 of those being through injury.
READ MORE: Russian gardeners forced to buy bulbs for '£100' on black market as Putin pressure grows
And new phone call recordings, heard by the Associated Press, show how many of those injuries would have been self-inflicted.
In one of more than 2,000 calls, a soldier named only as Leonid detailed how soldiers shoot themselves in order to get medical leave.
In another call, he tells his girlfriend he's envious of his buddies who got shot in the feet and could go home.
He said: “A bullet in your foot is like four months at home with crutches.
“It would be awesome.”
Then he hangs up because of incoming fire.
He gave more graphic details in a conversation with his mother, although she appears to refuse to believe him, as detailed below:
Mother: “Hello, Lyonechka.”
Leonid: “I just wanted to call you again. I am able to speak.”
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Mother: "Oh, that's good."
Leonid: "There are people out here who shoot themselves."
Mother: "Mhm."
Leonid: "They do it for the insurance money – you know where they shoot themselves?"
Mother: "That's silly, Lyonya."
Leonid: "The bottom part of the left thigh."
Mother: "It's bulls**t, Lyonya. They're crazy, you know that, right?"
Stunning before-and-after pictures show war-torn Ukraine returning to normality
Leonid: "Some people are so scared that they are ready to harm themselves just to leave."
Mother: "Yeah, it is fear, what can you say here, it's human fear. Everybody wants to live. I don't argue with that, but please don't do that.”
In another call, he admits he became a soldier because he was in debt and didn't want to be dependent on his parents.
His mother also told of how she struggled to prepare her son for war when AP tracked her down and spoke to her last month.
She said: “I just wasn't prepared emotionally for my child to go to war at the age of 19.
“None of us had experienced anything like this, that your child would live in a time when he has to go and fight.”
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