I Want to Live (hotline)

I Want to Live (Ukrainian: Хочу жити, romanized: Khochu zhyty; Russian: Хочу жить, tr. Khochu zhit') is a hotline for receiving appeals from Russian servicemen in Ukraine. Operated by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine, the service is designed to help Russian servicemen who do not want to participate in the Russian invasion of Ukraine to safely surrender to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.[1][2] The project guarantees the detention of surrendering military personnel in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.[3]

I Want to Live
Хочу жити
FormationSeptember 18, 2022 (2022-09-18)
Parent organization
Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine
Websitehochuzhit.com

Process

According to the official website of the project, there are several methods by which a Russian serviceman can submit an appeal and surrender. These include calling the round-the-clock hotline, or following instructions from a chatbot on the Telegram channel of the project. Since shortly after the launch of the project, Russian state bodies blocked access to it from the territories controlled by the Russian Federation.[4][5][3]

For those who have surrendered, Ukrainians offer the opportunity to take part in a prisoner exchange organized between the governments of Russia and Ukraine, or to remain temporarily in detention with the possibility of staying in Ukraine or emigrating later.[6]

History

On September 18, the coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war, as a continuation of the project designed to encourage the surrender of Russian personnel, launched a special state project with a 24-hour hotline for receiving appeals from the Russian military and their families called "I want to Live."[7][8]

On October 5, 2022, it became known that with the help of this project, the first Russian serviceman who were mobilized immediately after the announced partial mobilization in Russia surrendered to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.[9]

During the first month of the project, more than three thousand calls from Russian military personnel were processed.[10] By December 2022, a spokesperson for the program said it had processed over 4,300 direct requests for information on how to surrender.[11]

On 4 May 2023, the hotline's spokesperson Vitaliy Matvienko stated that it received requests to surrender from 3200 Russian soldiers in April 2023, representing a 10% increase over March 2023. He added that the hotline had received a total of 16,000 requests to surrender since its inception. Its website had been accessed over 36 million times, 32 million visits of which were made from the territory of the Russian Federation.[lower-alpha 1]

See also

Notes
  1. The official statement in Ukrainian reads: "3200 росіян висловили бажання здатись у полон у квітні. Проєкт «Хочу жить». Про це на пресконференції в Military Media Center розповів спікер державного проєкту здачі в полон російських та білоруських військових "Хочу жить" Віталій Матвієнко. - За квітень кількість звернень у нас зросла, порівняно з березнем 2023 року, на 10% і становить 3200 звернень, - зазначив він. Віталій Матвієнко також розповів, що загалом, за час існування проєкту, отримано понад 16 тисяч звернень і сайт відвідало більш як 36 мільйонів осіб. 32 мільйони з них – з території російської федерації."[12][13] In English: "3,200 Russians expressed a desire to surrender in April. Project "I Want to Live". Vitaliy Matvienko, spokesman for the state project for the surrender of Russian and Belarusian servicemen "I Want to Live", told this at a press conference at the Military Media Centre. "In April, the number of applications increased by 10% compared to March 2023, and amounted to 3,200 applications," he said. Vitaliy Matvienko also said that since the project's inception, more than 16,000 applications have been received, and the website has been visited by more than 36 million people. 32 million of them came from the territory of the Russian Federation."

References
  1. ""Добровільно в полон": як працює проєкт "Хочу жить" для російських військових" ["Voluntarily taken prisoner": how the "I want to live" project works for the Russian military]. Українське радіо. 11 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  2. "Проект "Хочу жить" помогает российским военнослужащим не попасть на войну" [The "I want to live" project helps Russian servicemen not to go to war]. Настоящее время. 13 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  3. "Moscow blocked access to a Ukrainian website for Russian soldiers who want to surrender after it was bombarded with requests". Business Insider. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  4. "Россия заблокировала сайт "Хочу жить", но желающих сдаться в плен очень много: куда им обращаться" [Russia has blocked the site "I want to live", but there are a lot of people who want to surrender: where to contact them]. 24tv. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  5. "Про умови здачі в полон росіяни можуть дізнаватися через соціальні мережі" [Russians can find out about the conditions of surrender through social networks]. ГУР МОУ. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  6. "Ukraińska infolinia dla Rosjan bije rekordy popularności. "Proszę, zabierzcie nas!"". Onet Wiadomości (in Polish). 2023-01-26. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
  7. "Запущено Єдиний центр та цілодобову гарячу лінію прийому звернень від російських військових" [The Unified Center and a 24-hour hotline for receiving appeals from the Russian military have been launched]. ГУР МОУ. 19 September 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  8. "В Украине создали горячую линию для российских военных, готовых сложить оружие" [Ukraine has created a hotline for the Russian military, ready to lay down their arms]. УНІАН. 18 September 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  9. "Перший російський мобілізований здався у полон за допомогою проєкту "Хочу жити"" [The first Russian mobilized prisoner surrendered with the help of the "I want to live" project]. Центр національного спротиву. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  10. "На горячие линии "Хочу жить" обратилось уже более трех тысяч российских военных" [Over 3,000 Russian servicemen have already contacted the "I want to live" hotlines]. Укрінформ. 20 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  11. Santora, Marc (2022-12-20). "Surrender to a Drone? Ukraine Is Urging Russian Soldiers to Do Just That". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  12. General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (4 May 2023). "3200 росіян висловили бажання здатись у полон у квітні. Проєкт «Хочу жить»" [3,200 Russians expressed their desire to surrender in April. "I Want to Live" project] (in Ukrainian). Facebook.
  13. Anna Khomenko (4 May 2023). "У квітні висловили бажання здатись у полон 3200 росіян". 0564.ua. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
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