New Delhi, Dec. 7 -- Shocking radio intercepts expose National Guard's brutal barrier role as morale collapses and Russian forces close in on shattered Ukrainian lines.

In the muddy trenches near Kupyansk, a northeastern Ukrainian rail hub that has become a grinding focal point of the war, a chilling command echoed through the ether. Russian forces intercepted radio communications on Sunday revealing orders from a Ukrainian National Guard commander, call sign "Robinson" to his subordinate "Phobos": Shoot deserters on sight. Two were to be executed immediately as a warning, with instructions to eliminate any others fleeing the line. The revelation, obtained by TASS from Russian security sources, lays bare the lengths to which Kyiv's comma...