Since invading Ukraine earlier this year, an estimated 80k Russian soldiers have died for a cause they never believed in.

Now, soldiers are reportedly surrendering to Ukrainian troops en masse in a desperate attempt to get out of the war – even if it means being held prisoner by the enemy.

Andrii Yusov, the Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, said this week that over 2,000 Russian soldiers had contacted them to surrender.

Yusov explained on Freedom TV, “Then we started getting phone calls not just from soldiers who were on the territory of Ukraine as part of the occupation army, but also those who had just been mobilized and were still on the territory of the Russian Federation, or their relatives, or even people who suspected that they might be mobilized and were checking just in case. In a few weeks, we have already [received] more than 2,000 such requests.”

It’s a grim reminder of the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin has initialized a partial mobilization of draft forces to ramp up military action in Ukraine after announcing plans to illegally annex four regions.

Russians, protesting in the streets and fleeing in droves, are now turning to desperation to get out of the war they wish would end.