The Russian Defense Ministry says that the captured military personnel do not want to return to the frontlines.
Ukrainian soldiers who were captured by Russia as prisoners of war have decided to remain in the territory controlled by Moscow and allied forces, expressing reluctance to fight, Russia s Ministry of Defense claimed on Saturday.
Ukrainian prisoners of war belonging to the units of the Naval infantry, National Guard, air assault and ground forces chose to stay in the territory controlled by Russia because of their reluctance to fight and fear of being sent to the frontlines again, the ministry wrote on its Telegram channel.
The Ukrainian POWs do not want to be used as cannon fodder and die on the battlefield while carrying out criminal orders issued by Kiev, according to the Defense Ministry.
The Russian military also posted a video of what appears to be an interview with a Ukrainian POW who said he laid down his arms voluntarily and turned himself in to the allied forces.
According to the prisoner, he has been treated well and does not want to return to Ukraine as part of any future swaps.
Few soldiers manage to surrender due to a crackdown by Ukraine's nationalist battalions, the ministry claimed, noting that the nationalists threaten to shoot any soldiers who try to abandon their combat positions.
According to the ministry, the POWs have told of rampant corruption among the Ukrainian ranks, the use of intimidation tactics by Kiev and the barbaric treatment of civilians who are used by the nationalists as human shields on a regular basis. Earlier this month, Moscow claimed that it scrupulously follows the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war, while Kiev s forces tortured, starved and deprived of medical care Russian POWs. At the time, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Aleksandr Fomin condemned the West s unwillingness to hold Kiev accountable for these violations and crimes.
In July, Moscow blamed Kiev and Ukranian President Vladimir Zelensky for the fatal shelling of a detention facility in the Donetsk People's Republic. A Russian Defense Ministry said a US-made missile strike using the US-made HIMARS multiple rocket launcher killed 50 Ukrainian POWs, injuring another 73.