Western Ukraine – Thousands of Russian soldiers captured in Ukraine have received the best medical care and food they have ever had in their lives – and none of the people interviewed by the Post say they support the war.
Last week's post led five camps from the frontline, the largest of five Ukrainian camps for Russian prisoners, to talk to prisoners about their institutional treatment, their views on bloody conflicts, and how they fought.
Most of the more than 25 Russian soldiers who spoke to the post said they only took part in the war to provide their families.
If you are willing to become Cannon feed, it is an immediate job, explained to support a 20-year-old soldier with a wife and four children.
Their time as Ukrainian prisoners is in stark contrast to the time of thousands of Russian prisoners who are beaten regularly to the point of brain damage and fracture and appear like gaunt as victims of the Holocaust upon release.
“Lucky” things
The camps in Ukraine are calm. There is no sudden movement, no sadness or happiness. Several of the captured Russian soldiers sat and played chess with each other, but no apparent friendship was seen between them.
But despite their stoic faces, prisoners here know that they are “lucky,” said Ukrainian coordination headquarters for the treatment of Ukrainian spokesman Petro Yatsenko.
For all the captured Russian forces, about 1,000 more were killed in the war.
According to Ukraine, since the start of the war, Ukrainian soldiers have killed Russians on a scale of about 3:1. Kiev currently has around 1,000 Russian fighters every day, Yatzenko said.
The Russian prisoners in the camp know that they are not only lucky to have survived the massacre, but also realize that the care they are receiving is more global than what their Ukrainian counterparts get.
The broken bones of Russians are examined with state-of-the-art X-ray devices, dental examinations, treatments (often the first time the Russians had), and performed as needed, with new warm clothes, three pairs of shoes and fresh toiletries being dumped into the intakes of each Moscow prisoner.
Their original clothing is collected, washed away and hidden for ultimate release. That is the ultimate goal of the entire operation. It is about returning Russian troops to Moscow in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners.
Generally, the longer prisoners are under Ukraine's custody, the fatter they are.
Each Russian prisoner spoke to a post that he wanted to go home, but no one said he wanted to return to battle.
“I was [drafted.] They took us to the meeting point, and from there we began transporting people who could fight,” said a prisoner named Anatoly. “I wouldn't want to kill anyone and take their lives, but it was fate and circumstances.
“There's no point in bleeding everywhere,” he said. “There are many ways to solve the problem.”
While Russian soldiers are taking part in the fight for physical or economic coercion, Ukrainian fighters consider their cause as noble and worthy of dying to save their country.
The Ukrainian amputee, who the Post spoke at Ilpin during a visit to special envoy General Keith Kellogg last week, carried this spirit.
Even the lack of arms and legs was about half of the 20 or so Ukrainian troops that the Post and General spoke to, saying they wanted to return to the frontlines to continue fighting for their country.
Russia also injured soldiers fighting in that rank, but by force. Recently, intelligence videos have been circulating online, indicating that Moscow's army is moving forward with fellow fellows moving forward at muzzle.
I was forced to fight
None of the Russian prisoners interviewed for this story say they support the war.
Inmates at the facility here said they arrived a few days to two and a half years ago.
It appears that Russia doesn't want to get them back either. The Kremlin publicly announces it wants to exchange prisoners and refuses to take the man with him when Kiev makes a call, Yatsenko said.
Ukrainian President Voldymir Zelensky pointed out the situation in an explosive exchange between President Trump and the White House Vice President on Friday, saying his country tried to make a prisoner exchange deal with Russia, which has rejected such offers multiple times.
This is another example of how Moscow doesn't care about humanity.
Long before Russian soldiers became prisoners of war, most were prisoners of the situation. He had no ability to make money in Russia or to obtain a driver's license without participating in military or draft orders. Others were Russian criminals who were released from prison to fight in the war.
At first, Russian prisoners would say they began military service to “protect their homeland.” But with a few follow-up questions – “What should the homeland be protected from?” – the claims fall apart.
“They called us to the military registration and enlistment office. [The official there] “They're being treated with gunshot wounds,” said Dennis Makarov, a Russian prisoner of warlord who was being treated by Ukrainians with gunshot wounds.
“I decided to go for my family, and my family would flourish, and my relatives would have been great and profitable. And I went to protect my hometown.”
The post asked Makarov, “Where do you want to protect it?”
He replied, “To be honest, I wasn't really thinking about it.” [Russia] He was under attack.
“Not only did I do more for finances, but my two children and wife from Astrakan had little income. There was a devastating lack of money,” Makarov said.
“That's why there are so many soldiers in Russia. They're like me,” he added.
Most of the Russian troops interviewed by the Post said they took part in the war to provide to their families.
Others, such as Dmitry Nikolaevich, said they raised their arms simply because they were better than corrupting in Russian prisons. Moscow was forced to invade Ukraine by more than 180,000 prisoners.
Nikolaevich was born in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Some of it has been under Russian occupation since the first invasion of Moscow in 2014. He spent eight years in a Russian prison.
“I really want to end this war,” he said.
“We, the people of Donbas, including all of Ukraine, raised Ukraine from the knees after the collapse of the Soviet Union. We did it all – the economy was better than the Russian economy and better than many countries,” he said.
“Who came up with the idea? [the idea of this war] – European provocation or Russia? ”
Caring for the enemy
Ukrainian dignified care for Russian prisoners is a difficult medicine to swallow for many families of Kiev soldiers held by Russia.
Relatives are fighting the idea that Ukrainian taxes are being spent on the very people who tried to kill their sons and daughters, Yatzenko said.
“Every day, our guys and girls are tortured, so it's very difficult to explain to our families. They say it all. [Russian POWs] He should be killed immediately,” he said. “But we explain that they need to provide swaps for the next prisoner, so we keep them healthy just to sustain their lives.
“We need to get ours back from these very ugly conditions that the Russians offer.
“We are humane and not like Russians, so we should handle them well,” he added. “Maybe this war with Russia is because of this difference. Ukrainians are very enthusiastic, Ukrainians have enough food. Ukrainians are comfortable. Most Russians don't have this.
“For us, we even give this to our enemies.“
When prisoner interactions occur, most Ukrainians return arrive with health problems ranging from malnutrition to serious injuries or be-strokes to the head or amnesia.
But at least they survived the growing tendency for Russians to take prisoners of Ukrainian surrenders, rather than taking prisoners in accordance with the Geneva Convention.
The post reached out to several Ukrainian veterans who returned from Russian prisoners. There are some detailed horrors from their time there, but no one wanted Moscow to speak publicly for fear of even more intense cracking down on prisoners still under their control.
One Ukrainian, who was recently released after spending 33 months with a Russian prisoner, said he had experienced a fierce beating and aggravated treatment after the prisoners detailed the torture to the media while he was still in custody.
The idea was to make it clear to Ukrainian prisoners that they would pay if their armed brothers spoke out, some said.
“There are a few things I don't talk about publicly: details of the conditions of detention, detention regimes, stories about the use of physical force,” he said. “All of this can hurt those who stay there.”
