More Russian soldiers are offering to defect via a surrender hotline, a Ukrainian official said. The rise in calls comes after a Russian helicopter pilot publicly defected to Ukraine last month. The official said the number of Russian appeals to defect jumped by about 70 percent daily. "After the successful operation Synytsia with the Mi-8 and the pilot, the number of Russian army servicemen considering such a scenario has increased," he added. AdvertisementAdvertisementBy March this year, around 10,000 Russian soldiers used the hotline to offer their voluntary surrender, officials said at the time.

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Persons: Andrii Yusov, Radio Svoboda, Ysuov, Russia Yusov, Maksim Kuzminov, Kuzminov Organizations: Service, Defence Intelligence, Radio, Ukrainian Pravda, Putin, CNN, Russia, Russia's Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Wall, Silicon, Ukrainian, Putin Russian, Russia, Russia's