Kenneth Glad
The conflict has drawn people into military service for sharply different reasons. Accounts from captivity provide a limited view of how prolonged fighting has affected communities under occupation.
A prisoner-of-war camp in western Ukraine is holding Russian soldiers alongside Ukrainian-born men captured while serving Moscow’s forces. According to BBC, the latter group came from areas of Donbas under Russian or Russian-backed control since 2014.
Ukraine still considers people from the occupied regions to be Ukrainian citizens, even when they say they identify as Russian. That has created unusual cases in which Ukrainian-born men captured while fighting for Moscow can also face accusations of treason.
The prisoners’ statements offer only a narrow view of conditions in the Russian military. But their accounts provide some insight into why men from occupied parts of Ukraine joined Russian forces and what they expect to happen next.
How occupation shaped identity
Anton, a Donbas native interviewed by the BBC, volunteered for Russian forces after turning 18. He regards himself as Russian and considers Vladimir Putin his president despite being born in Ukraine.
Petro Yatsenko, from Ukraine’s coordination body for prisoners of war, told the British broadcaster that some detainees were strongly pro-Russian while their national identity could be difficult to define.
Years spent under Russian-controlled education, media and government institutions form part of that background. Political control does not automatically determine individual loyalties, but the prisoners’ accounts show how citizenship and self-identification can diverge.
Why men enlisted
Other prisoners described different routes into Russian service. One man from Donetsk told the BBC he had been compelled to fight, while others said they volunteered because of political grievances or personal circumstances.
Konstantin, a convicted drug trafficker, said joining the military offered an alternative to a lengthy prison sentence. Prisoners also described severe battlefield losses and fewer volunteers arriving to replace them.
The prisoners said their units had suffered heavy losses and that fewer men were volunteering to replace them. Their accounts offer only a limited picture of recruitment across the Russian military.
Captured soldiers may later be included in prisoner exchanges. According to the BBC, several detainees from Donbas said they believed Russia was in no hurry to negotiate their return.
Some now fear they could remain in Ukrainian custody longer than other Russian prisoners.
Sources: BBC
