Photo: Genya Agence France-Presse Russian prisoners of war at a Ukrainian facility in an undisclosed location in the Sumy region, August 19, 2024.
Maryke Vermaak – Agence France-Presse
Published yesterday at 14:23
- Europe
Some of them wounded, most of them very young, all want to go home: taken prisoner during the surprise Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region, Russian soldiers now have only one hope: to be exchanged.
AFP was able to speak briefly with several of these Russian prisoners of war at a site where they are being held in the Sumy region, which faces the Kursk region in northern Ukraine, under the supervision of Ukrainian officers.
Sitting on his bunk, dressed in plaid trousers, a 22-year-old Russian conscript recalls the moment of his capture, in what is one of the biggest raids by Ukrainian forces since the start of the war in 2022.
“Everything was normal, everything was fine. And then this unexpected moment changed everything,” he explains, asserting that he and his comrades were “simply abandoned by the command” when the Ukrainian forces crossed the border.
“It was unexpected,” repeats the young man, who had been serving in the military for 10 months at the time of his capture, while Ukrainian officers stood nearby.
He says he is now waiting to “be exchanged to return home, to find my family”.
Unlike soldiers under contract and mobilized soldiers, Russian conscripts do not fight in Ukraine, but carry out their compulsory one-year military service on national territory. They are often young men with no real military experience.
Another detainee, a 42-year-old border guard with a bandaged leg, says he was captured on the first day of the Ukrainian offensive.
Photo: Genya Agence France-Presse
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000“The encirclement was total, there was no way to break through. So the decision was made to surrender,” he says, adding that he also wants to be exchanged. “That's what I hope for the most, of course.”
Ordinary people
The deputy director of the facility where they are being held, Volodymyr, is pleased with the “very large number” of Russian soldiers captured during this Ukrainian assault of unprecedented scale against Russian territory launched on August 6.
He explains that the prisoners were initially “afraid of everything”, expecting to be mistreated in detention. Then they eventually “came back to life” and their psychological state “stabilized,” he assures.
“On the battlefield, they are soldiers hated [by the Ukrainians], but when they are captured, they become ordinary people,” Volodymyr continues.
According to kyiv, several hundred Russian soldiers have surrendered since the start of the offensive, but their exact number has not been revealed.
An “exchange fund” boasted by President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said he was counting on an exchange “in the short term” for Ukrainian soldiers taken prisoner by Moscow.
“This operation has become our largest investment in the process of liberating Ukrainians prisoners in Russia,” he said happily.
Read also
- Ukraine says it is “strengthening” its positions in the Russian region of Kursk
- Ukraine wants to establish a buffer zone on Russian soil
A source within the Ukrainian security services (SBU) reported to AFP last week the capture of 102 Russian soldiers in a single day, the largest single capture.
The Russian military, for its part, has released videos on social networks showing Ukrainian soldiers heading to the Kursk region or having just arrived captivity.
According to an estimate by President Vladimir Putin last June, Russia is holding nearly 6,500 Ukrainian prisoners of war.
The two sides have conducted multiple prisoner exchanges over the past two years, resulting in the release of thousands of people on both the Russian and Ukrainian sides.
This time, Kiev claims to be already in talks with Moscow on an exchange. Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Loubinets has said he is in contact with his Russian counterpart Tatiana Moskalkova on the matter.