Schwarzenegger urges Russians to ‘speak out’ against ‘illegal’ Ukraine invasion, as Russia’s elite plot to overthrow Putin

Gradually nearing 30 days since the February 24 invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces under the orders of President Vladimir Putin, former Governor of State of California, in the United States, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has appealed to Russians to speak up against the war, and also against the propaganda of the Russian state.

This comes as Ukraine’s military intelligence claim that Russia’s elites are scheming President to overthrow Putin in order to restore economic ties with Western countries amid a flurry of sanctions slammed on their country in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine.

Aleksandr Bortnikov, head of FSB security agency, is allegedly being considered as Putin’s successor, according to Ukraine’s intelligence.

In a video posted to Twitter, Schwarzenegger, the Austrian-born Hollywood star, and former champion bodybuilder spoke of his admiration for the Russian people but said there are “moments like this that are so wrong and then we have to speak up”.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has made an impassioned plea to Russian troops in Ukraine, telling them he does not want to see them be “broken” like his father who fought for the Nazis in the Second World War.

In a video message, the 74-year-old spoke of his “affections and respect” for the Russian people ever since meeting his hero bodybuilder Yuri Petrovich Vlasov when he was 14 years old.

But he said there are “moments like this that are so wrong and then we have to speak up”.

Addressing Russian troops who have invaded Ukraine, he warned them that “every bullet you shoot, you shoot a brother or sister”.

And he urged them to learn from the plight of his Austrian father, who was sent to Russia while fighting for the Nazis during the Second World War.

He said: “When my father arrived in Leningrad, he was all pumped up on the lies of his government.

“When he left Leningrad he was broken physically and mentally. He lived the rest of his life in pain. I don’t want you to be broken like my father.

“This is not the war to defend Russia that your grandfathers or great-grandfathers fought. This is an illegal war.”

Schwarzenegger said the Kremlin had lied to its citizens and its soldiers, referencing the claims that Russia was trying to “denazify” Ukraine.

He added: “Denazify Ukraine? This is not true.

“Ukraine is a country with a Jewish president. A Jewish president, I might add, whose father’s three brothers were all murdered by the Nazis.

“You see Ukraine did not start this war, neither did nationalists or Nazis.

“Those in power in the Kremlin started this war.”

He appealed to citizens of Russia and soldiers alike to listen to his message, adding: “Your lives, your limbs are being sacrificed for a senseless war condemned by the entire world.”

Schwarzenegger said he was speaking with the “same heartfelt concern” that he spoke to the American people with when there was an attempted insurrection on 6 January last year during the storming of the US Capitol.

Concluding his message, Schwarzenegger said the Russians protesting against the conflict who have been “beaten and jailed” are his “new heroes” and “have the true heart of Russia”.

Meanwhile, the bodies of more than 2,500 Russian soldiers have been transported to Russia’s neighbour Belarus “in the dead of night” to disguise the true number of casualties in Ukraine, doctors have claimed.

Russia is said to be quietly transporting its wounded and dead across the border to keep the true death toll from its invasion of Ukraine under wraps, as the war enters its fourth week.

Hospital wards in the Homel, a southeastern region of Belarus less than 150 miles north of Kyiv, are full of “terribly disfigured” soldiers and morgues are overflowing with corpses, locals claimed.

A medic working in Belarus told Radio Free Europe that more than 2,500 bodies had been transported by train or plane back to Russia from the region by March 13, just 18 days since President Vladimir Putin launched the attack on Ukraine.

The figure has not been independently verified.

Another doctor in the town of Mazyr said that Russia’s efforts to transport bodies back to the country were increasingly conducted at night to reduce unwanted scrutiny.

The medic said: “Earlier, the corpses were transported by ambulances and loaded on Russian trains.

“After someone made a video about it and it went on the internet, the bodies were loaded at night so as not to attract attention.”

Russia has been accused of severely downplaying the death toll of troops fighting the war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin acknowledged on March 2 that nearly 500 soldiers had been killed and 1,597 injured in its first announcement of fatalities, although it had not provided any update since.

The true figure is thought to be much higher. Ukrainian officials claim 14,000 Russian have died so far.

US intelligence this week estimated that the number of Russian soldiers killed was in fact over 7,000, though this too is taken as a “conservative” estimate.

If accurate, Putin would have lost more soldiers in 20 days than the number of American troops killed over 20 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

US estimates say between 14,000 to 21,000 Russian soldiers have been injured since the fighting began, and the Russian military has lost at least four generals.

With more than 150,000 Russian troops now involved in the conflict in Ukraine, officials at the US Pentagon have said the staggering death toll and number of casualties could likely destroy morale in Putin’s forces.

Tens of thousands of Russian troops were stationed in Belarus ahead of the invasion on February 24, when Putin launched an unprovoked attack on Ukraine and Kremlin forces poured into the country.

The invasion has reportedly not gone to plan, with Russian troops struggling to gain ground in the face of valiant fighting for Ukrainian forces.

However, Kremlin troops have subjected Ukrainians to weeks of heavy fire and bombardment, killing thousands of civilians and forcing over three million people to flee the country.