'Total Mess Here'—Russian Soldier Reveals Kherson Chaos in Intercepted Call

Ukrainian intelligence published audio of what it claimed was an intercepted call of a Russian soldier allegedly telling his wife about the losses Russia has sustained in Kyiv's counteroffensive to retake the southern Kherson region.

On Tuesday, the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine released audio of a call it said was between a Russian soldier and his wife discussing Ukraine's push to recapture the region which was seized by Russian forces in March, shortly after the invasion began.

The soldier talked to his wife about the losses Russia is currently sustaining in the Kherson region, detailing strikes by Ukraine's Armed Forces, and subsequent casualties.

"We already have 300's [wounded] here. They f***ed us up. Next to us were boys from Belogorsk, from the 165th Brigade," the soldier reportedly said. "Shrapnel hit the hit time, f**k...they laid under the tank, it hit the tank. Boys didn't have trenches or anything."

Some Russian troops were struck in the arms and legs, while some were hit in the back, the audio from the call claimed.

"F***ing HIMARS s**t. They are long-range and our tank was hit too....," the soldier allegedly said, referring to the U.S.-supplied M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems—known as HIMARS—that has been credited with turning the tide of the war.

"Our fighter jet took off and never returned. It must have been downed. We were hit two times after they tracked my phone signal. As twelve vehicles were being moved by pontoon crossing, everyone there got hit badly. This Dnipro River is now full of corpses," the serviceman said on the released audio.

The soldier also said that all bridges in the Kherson region have been damaged by Ukrainian shelling.

"All the bridges are destroyed, we're in a total mess here," he added. "The boys can only move around on ferries."

Newsweek has not independently verified the audio.

It comes after Kirill Stremousov, the Kremlin-installed leader of Kherson, said Russia has given up on rebuilding bridges destroyed by Ukraine in the Kherson counteroffensive.

Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-appointed military-civilian regional administration, told Russian state-owned news agency Tass on Tuesday that it does not make sense for Russia to restore the Antonovsky Bridge, which has been targeted for weeks by Ukraine.

"So far, no one is restoring the Antonovsky Bridge, because there is no point, there is no expediency," he said.

Stremousov said that the key bridge, as well as a bridge in Nova Kakhovka, are completely closed at the moment as a result of damage caused by Ukrainian shelling.

"As we said, we are not very interested in bridges, we have our own crossings, this does not affect the course of the special military operation in any way," he said.

Newsweek has reached out to Russia's foreign ministry for comment.