It destroyed Russian military equipment in the center of Izyum, Ukraine, which was liberated after months of occupation. (Wojciech Grzedzinski for The Washington Post) IZYUM, Ukraine — About 10 days before Ukrainian forces retook the town of Izyum last weekend, Russian troops stationed here were so demoralized that they wrote letters pleading with their superiors to remove them from their roles. The 10 handwritten letters, dated Aug. 30, were left behind in a two-story house where Russians were squatting and were later found by Ukrainian soldiers who provided the letters to the Washington Post for review. They paint a portrait of disillusioned soldiers desperate for rest and worried about their health and morale after months of combat. “I refuse to complete my duty in the special operation on the territory of Ukraine due to lack of vacation days and moral exhaustion,” wrote a man who identified himself as the commander of an anti-aircraft missile platoon from the Moscow region. Another soldier asked to be released citing “the deterioration of my health and not receiving the necessary medical assistance.” Another said he was experiencing “physical and moral exhaustion.” Others wrote to complain that they were denied vacation time for family obligations, including marriage and the birth of a child. The similar style in which the 10 letters were written suggests that the troops, tired and disheartened, banded together to compose them. The letters caught the attention of Ukrainian soldiers when they first arrived in Izyum, which the Russians abandoned in a hasty retreat, and some were shared on social media. The authenticity of the letters has not been confirmed by independent medical examiners, but the original documents provided to The Post for review were among piles of items — from boots and uniforms to colorful letters of support from Russian students — abandoned as Russians fled an ultra-fast advance. of Ukraine that put almost all of the Kharkiv region back under Ukrainian control within days. An August 23 report addressed to the commander of Russia’s 2nd Motorized Rifle Division marked “TOP SECRET” and “extremely urgent” was also left at the same home, describing how four Russian soldiers were killed and one wounded by Ukrainian artillery fire in the village Kamyanka, about 75 miles north of Izyum near the Russian border. Taken together, the contents of the house help to reconstruct the remarkable turn of events that led to the rapid withdrawal of the Russians from the Kharkov region, where in many cases the troops fled and barely fought. This is what the Russian soldiers left behind when they left Izyum Once the Ukrainians began their push towards Izyum, the Russians who had been based here for months had enough warning time to destroy everything they could on their way out. They set fire to the city council building where they had installed a puppet government, set explosives on some of the military equipment they planned to abandon, and blew up a strategic bridge. Along the way, civilians said, they left some of their forces stranded on the other side with no choice but to walk or run across the damaged bridge to escape. Shortly before the Ukrainians retook the city, residents said, Russian troops imposed a 24-hour curfew, then entered civilian homes and raided closets for mismatched clothing so they wouldn’t be seen in uniform. Some then fled on foot or on bicycles, residents said. Before they stole local people’s clothes “they didn’t even care who lived there or if it was someone their age, they just opened their wardrobes,” said Tanya Lukianinka, 32, who crossed the broken bridge and walked downtown with her daughter and friends on Wednesday carrying Ukrainian flags in an act of celebration. Lukianinka’s daughter Henrietta, 14, said she learned about the curfew on Russian radio stations — but by tuning into Ukrainian channels she began to understand why Russian forces were suddenly so concerned. “We heard that somewhere on the outskirts of Izyum they had raised a Ukrainian flag,” he said. “We were very happy.” Vasil Tuskaniuk, 23, who joined the group on their walk through the city centre, said it was his first time visiting the area since the Russians took control of the city. Born in western Ukraine, he feared he would be detained and considered a threat to Russian forces if they searched his documents. To avoid interaction with Russians, he did not leave his property throughout the invasion. “It’s possible I wouldn’t have come home,” Tuskaniuk said. The Ukrainian attack thwarted Russia’s plans to annex Kharkiv During the months of occupation, Henrietta said she heard stories of people being killed or held in Russian dungeons and electrocuted. Russian newspapers were advertising camps for children in Russia, he said. One of her friend’s sisters, who was about 15, left for such a camp and has not yet returned, she said. The Russians intended to open schools in Izyum shortly before the Ukrainian advance thwarted their plans. “We didn’t put our kids on the registration list,” Lukianinka said. “They were just trying to spread propaganda.” Russian propaganda was ubiquitous, Lukianinka said, but it didn’t change hearts or minds. Instead, he said, the messages were mostly aimed at people who were already supporters of Russia. Some of those people remain in the city, he said, adding that he hoped they would change their views now that Ukraine has regained control. The letters describing the soldiers’ lack of will to fight stand in stark contrast to the pile of letters from schoolchildren from a town near Moscow encouraging the troops – a clear example of how the Kremlin’s narrative of war is portrayed in Russian schools . However, even the children in Russia seemed to know that the soldiers fighting in Ukraine faced difficult conditions. “Hello, I don’t know who will receive this letter, but I know that you are going through a very difficult time right now,” wrote a girl named Nastya. “That’s why I want to support you. You may be hungry, cold, want to go home to your family, or perhaps want to return to your childhood friends.’ A boy named Leonid wrote: “You protect peaceful citizens, you fulfill the main duty of every human being. I think war is a very bad and scary thing. There is death of innocent people, destruction, when you can’t live a normal life, when you are left without a home, without a job and lose your loved ones. I hope you hang in there and manage to achieve complete victory! Good luck! I believe in you!” “I really appreciate the difficulties you are going through,” wrote one boy, Pasha, noting that he is in the fourth grade in the city of Mytishchi, north of the Russian capital in the Moscow region. “I am grateful to you that we live under a bright and clear sky.” Another boy, Geydar, wrote: “I see how you fight in Ukraine. I hope your family is very proud of you. I hope you end up winning and if you have kids you’ll be a hero in their eyes.” The child added: “I see everything that happens there. The Russians are dying. Win the war, see you later.” Below the words, he painted wooden figures facing each other holding Russian and Ukrainian flags. At the entrance to the newly liberated city on Wednesday, under the sign for Izyum, a dirty Russian flag lay crumpled on the sodden ground. An elderly woman walking near the broken bridge on Wednesday said her husband died in a rocket attack on June 9. She declined to elaborate on her experience, saying she had already suffered too much. The area around the city’s central square now looks revelatory. Almost every building is destroyed if not destroyed. The shops are completely looted. A store owner painted “No Beer or Vodka” on the outside of his store. Someone else drew a “Z” over the message. Ukrainian troops were stationed throughout the city, some directing traffic away from roads blocked by abandoned equipment and others helping traffic through a hastily constructed floating bridge to allow traffic between two sides of the city. In a surprise visit to Izyum on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine’s blue-and-yellow flag would fly “in every Ukrainian town and village.” Hours after his visit, a woman in a red coat walking through the city center seemed unsettled by the joy at Ukraine’s rapid success. “Are you sure the Russians won’t come back?” asked. The area around the city remains treacherous as Ukrainian forces work to clear the roads of mines and the many destroyed tanks and other equipment that have been abandoned on the outskirts. Post reporters were diverted to a road leading to Izyum, where soldiers warned that the roads were still heavily mined. An unexploded anti-tank mine could be seen at the end of this road, a field of yellow sunflowers growing right behind it. Amid Ukraine’s stunning gains, liberated villages describe Russian troops dropping rifles and fleeing As the civilians cautiously emerged from their basements and homes, there were a few small moments of joy they had been denied for so many months of occupation. Neighbors greeted each other across their fences. Some were riding their bikes through the city’s central square. Lukianinka’s group gathered around an “I LOVE IZYUM” sign in the city center, waving as they held their flags. A driver of The Post, who is from Izyum and had not seen his parents before the invasion, knocked on their gate on Wednesday afternoon. Their house was damaged by shelling and Russian troops had even tried to sleep there, until his mother told them. When the 60-year-old father opened the door for him, the son embraced him – his father is beaming…
