Russia forming combat units from Ukrainian prisoners of war — ISW
Photo: Russia is forming combat units from Ukrainian prisoners of war (Getty Images)
Russia is forming combat units from Ukrainian prisoners of war. These Russian actions violate the provisions of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The Volunteer Corps of the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the formation of the first Ukrainian Volunteer Spetsnaz Brigade.
According to Russia, the brigade consists of Ukrainian prisoners of war and former Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen who allegedly defected to Russia.
Russians formed this brigade by merging several irregular, so-called volunteer units.
Specifically, these include the Maxim Krivonos and Alexei Berest battalions and the Alexander Matrosov, Martyn Pushkar, and Slobodskoy detachments. The Russians claim that the units include Ukrainian prisoners of war, as well as former military personnel who have allegedly defected to their side.
The ISW notes that reports of Russian forces forming combat units using Ukrainian prisoners of war were first documented in November 2022.
In particular, the latest Russian battalion, Bogdan Khmelnitsky, composed of prisoners of war, operated as part of the Kaskad unit of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic's (DNR) Ministry of Internal Affairs in the western part of the Donetsk region in December 2023.
Analysts emphasize that Russia’s use of Ukrainian prisoners of war in combat units constitutes a gross violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
The document explicitly prohibits the use of prisoners of war in military service or any military activity on the side of the state that captured them.
It emphasizes that no prisoner of war may at any time be sent to or held in areas where he may be exposed to fire from a combat zone and must not be employed in work of a harmful or dangerous nature.
Ukrainian soldiers held captive by Russia
Earlier, Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada's Human Rights Commissioner, stated that over 95% of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia are subjected to systematic torture.
Over 600 Azov soldiers are being held captive in Russia. More than 20 are in critical condition, and nearly half have been convicted on trumped-up charges.
