Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations has shared the alleged heartbreaking final text message exchange between a Russian soldier and his mother, The Independent reports.
Written moments before he was allegedly killed, the unidentified soldier shared with his mother that he was "afraid", Sergiy Kyslytsya said as he read their messages out loud during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly emergency meeting.
"I would like to read from the screenshot of the smartphone of a killed Russian solider," Kyslytsya said at the meeting on Monday, February 28, which took place to discuss Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Before reading the messages, Kyslytsya held up a printed copy of the correspondence and said "that's an actual screenshot from someone who is dead already".
Kyslytsya's address can be seen in the video below:"How are you doing? Why has it been so long since you responded?" the mother asked her son shortly before he lost his life, according to Kyslytsya. "Are you really in training exercises?"
The son responded: "Mama, I’m no longer in Crimea. I’m not in training sessions."
The soldier's mother then proceeded to ask her son where he was, writing: "Papa is asking whether I can send you a parcel."
The son appeared unsure about what sort of parcel she would be able to send him, to which she says: "What are you talking about, what happened?"
The soldier then tells his mother about the reality of his situation and the extent of the conflict between their country and Ukraine.
"Mama, I am in Ukraine. There is a real war raging here," the soldier went on to write, according to Kyslytsya.
"I’m afraid. We are bombing all of the cities together, even targeting civilians. We were told that they would welcome us, and they are falling under our armored vehicles, throwing themselves under the wheels and not allowing us to pass. They call us fascists. Mama this is so hard."
The Ukrainian ambassador then told those gathered at the United Nations General Assembly emergency meeting: "Just imagine those killed people next to you when you listen to my formal statement."
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