A Russian soldier surrendered a tank to Ukrainian military forces in exchange for $10,000, an adviser to Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said on Tuesday.
According to Viktor Andrusiv, a member of the Russian forces – whom he identified as "Misha," short for Mikhail –voluntarily handed over an operational main battle tank to the Ukrainian military.
Andrusiv explained that Misha had called the Ukrainian Interior Ministry a few days ago to broach the offer, which was then relayed to the Chief Directorate of Intelligence at the Ministry of Defense. The Russian soldier was then given a rendezvous point where he was detained on arrival by special forces.
"It turned out that he was left alone by the tank crew, the rest fled home. He saw no point in fighting. He could not return home because his commander said he would shoot him and write it off as combat losses," Andrusiv wrote in a Facebook post. "Misha said that there was almost nothing left to do, the command of the troops was chaotic and practically absent. The demoralization is enormous," he explained.
"Now the soldier has received comfortable conditions of detention. He will also receive $10,000 after the end of the war and the opportunity to apply for citizenship," Andrusiv added.
Meanwhile, some $1 million has been promised to those who fly fighter jets into the custody of the Ukrainian army and $500,000 for helicopters, announced Yuri Gusev, the CEO of Ukraine's central state military company.
In a Facebook post, Gusev said the offer is open to everyone who is ready to support the Ukrainian army and asked users to spread the message through social media. The CEO said it will pay $1 million for “every combat-capable stolen or trophy” aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces, and $500,000 for “every combat helicopter.”
