‘They will betray you again’: On Putin’s birthday, Ukraine says Russian troops ‘paying in blood for someone’s fantasies’

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov took Russian President Vladimir Putin’s birthday as an opportunity to talk about the 70-year-old’s “deception” and warn Russian soldiers that the Kremlin will “betray you again.”

In a video shared on Twitter, the minister is seen urging Russian fighters to surrender, while guaranteeing them “life, security and justice” if they choose to do so.

We guarantee life, security and justice to everyone who refuses to fight immediately. And we will get a tribunal for those who gave criminal orders. You can still save Russia from tragedy, and the Russian army from humiliation,” Reznikov said in the clip.

Oleksiy Reznikov addresses Russian troops on Putin’s birthday
He further said the Russian forces have been continuously “deceived and betrayed” by the Kremlin, and are paying “in blood for someone’s fantasies and false goals”. “

Your paratroopers are now dying on the right bank of Dnipro. They know their job. But someone in the Kremlin decided to send them to certain death. Why is this happening? It’s very simple: you were deceived and betrayed … You pay with blood for someone’s fantasies and false goals. Now they don’t listen to you. Because listening to you now means admitting mistakes. And in Moscow they don’t like the truth,” the minister said.

“It’s easier for them to tell you that you died heroically in battle against imaginary NATO hordes. It is true that NATO countries are supplying us with weapons. But it is Ukrainian soldiers who are beating you with these weapons,” he continued in the 2-minute 19-second long video, adding that several Russian soldiers had realized that they were “sent to die not for a good cause.”

“You will remain in memory as thieves, rapists and murderers … you will be made guilty. And they will betray you again, as they have already betrayed you more than once,” he emphasized. Comparing Putin to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the minister asked Russian troops- “Our president is visiting the frontline… He is with his army. And where is yours?”

Reznikov concluded by stating that his country’s troops do not need to acquire regions of Russia, as they have “enough” of their own. Lately, Ukraine’s forces have been reclaiming previously captured territories through counter-offensives in the southern and eastern parts of the country.