Russian soldiers in Ukraine speak of “raping girls” and “eating dogs” in horrifying audio clips from intercepted radio communications.
In audio obtained by the Ukrainian Security Service (SSU), Russian soldiers can be heard nonchalantly speaking in their native language about the vile acts to others over the radio.
“We have three tank guys here,” a man can be heard saying in the first clip.
“They raped a girl.”
A woman’s voice interrupts, to ask “who did?”
“The three tankers,” the man responds. “She was 16 years old.”
The woman asks if he’s talking about “our guys”, to which the man responds “yep”.
The woman can be heard swearing in Russian.
The next audio clip opens with a male voice asking another man “are you eating okay at least?”
In response, the second male voice responds, “not too bad”.
“We had Alabay (dog) yesterday”.
“Who?” the first voice asks.
“Alabay,” the second clarifies.
When asked “are you eating dogs or what?” the second man responds: “We have. We wanted some meat”.
This prompts the first man to casually ask “why, you have nothing to eat?”
His fellow soldier explains that while they had MREs (ready-to-eat meals) on hand, they were “sick of them”.
He then goes on to explain that they had “done away” with all of the chicken and the geese.
The SSU collects facts on Russian war crimes for Hague, through chatbots, hotlines, messenger apps and email.
The appalling conversations have been published by the service amid growing doubt about Kremlin peace negotiations.
Russian forces blitzed a Red Cross building in Ukraine on Wednesday - within 24 hours of peace-talks aimed at ending their bloody invasion.
The complex - clearly marked with the famous red cross and white background sign - was struck with artillery and targeted by warplanes.
It was the latest in a lengthy list of likely barbaric war crimes committed by Moscow’s troops.
The red cross building is in besieged port city Mariupol where officials warn a desperate humanitarian disaster is fast unfolding with thousands killed by Russia.
Ukrainian ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova said: “In Mariupol, the occupiers aimed at the building of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)."
She said that on Wednesday the building came under fire even though its roof is marked with an internationally recognised Red Cross symbol.
The symbol marks out that the structure holds wounded or ill people, or civilian or humanitarian cargo and is clearly visible from the air.
Scepticism around Russia ’s claims to be withdrawing from Ukraine also surrounds the Kremlin’s claims that troops have started to withdraw from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The so-called retreat comes days after Russian claimed it would 'drastically reduce combat operations' around Kyiv.
Earlier this week, Moscow claimed it would take the significant step as a gesture to advance peace talks, but both Ukrainian and US officials expressed doubt over Russian intentions.
ABC News reported that the Pentagon said they had only seen “small numbers” of Russian withdrawals after Russia's first claim, but that these were repositioning of troops, not retreat.
They challenged Russia characterising this as a move for peace, when in reality it was talked up military strategy.
Then, the Pentagon said it believed those troops could simply be moved elsewhere such as to the Donbas region, in eastern Ukraine, where Russia controls.
In its most specific description of Russian forces moving away from Kyiv, the Pentagon said that "less than 20%" of the Russian contingent in the vicinity of the Ukrainian capital were starting to "reposition".
