A detention center in Ukraine – DW is not allowed to name the exact location for security reasons. The second floor of the building is reserved for Russian prisoners of war. They are held separately from the other prisoners – “for their own protection”, as it is said.
After a journalistic request to the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine, DW was given the opportunity to speak to Russian prisoners – as the first media representatives ever. Filming in the detention center was also exclusive. Permission was granted on the condition that DW would not reveal the exact whereabouts of the prisoners or show their faces. We were also only allowed to talk to prisoners who were not charged with war crimes and against whom no criminal proceedings had been opened in any other way: interviewing such persons would require additional permission from the investigator or prosecutor.
Seven men of different ages are sitting in one of the cells. The visit of journalists does not surprise them. They say representatives from the UN or the Red Cross come every week.
During the interviews, the DW journalists were accompanied by prison staff. They offered DW the opportunity to choose their own interviewees. DW interviewed four prisoners after they agreed to be interviewed; they were all professional soldiers and had nothing to hide, they said.
“Honestly, we were deceived,” says Roman from Vyborg, Russia. “Initially we were told it was about humanitarian issues. But I was immediately thrown to the front.” Roman was wounded in battles in the Kharkiv region. The Ukrainian military took him away and gave him medical treatment, he says.
Artyom, another prisoner of war, says he made a conscious decision to take part in the “special operation” against Ukraine. (This is how Russia’s war against Ukraine is officially called in Russia, editor’s note.) In response to an ad on the Internet, he drove to Donetsk, which is controlled by pro-Russian separatists, where he learned in a few days to drive a T-72 – Control tanks. Then he was sent in the direction of Zaporizhia. But his main battle tank was destroyed and he himself was captured by the Ukrainian Azov regiment. The Russian assures that he got food and cigarettes and adds: “I didn’t see any fascists.”
When asked why he went to Ukraine, Artyom replies: “They say on TV that we’re supposedly fighting for a good cause, but in reality that’s not the case at all. It was only here that my eyes opened.” He describes the Russian army as “looters and murderers”.
The prisoner’s cell has old furniture, is cramped but clean. Plastic dishes are laid out on the common table – everyone has their own. Spoons and forks are made of metal. According to the guards, normal prisoners also have plastic cutlery for security reasons. But with the prisoners of war it was easier, they weren’t aggressive and were just waiting for a prisoner exchange.
A Ukrainian prisoner distributes lunch to the Russians under the supervision of a guard. Borscht and buckwheat porridge are served through an opening in the door of each cell. According to the prisoners, there was porridge with meat for breakfast. According to the menu, which is posted in the hallway, there is food three times a day. In addition, prisoners of war are allowed to go for walks and bathe daily.
In another cell are three young men in their 20s. There is a stack of books on the table next to their beds. The prisoners say that they like reading detective stories and novels.
One of them is Dmitry. He says he didn’t know it was going to Ukraine on February 24 from Belgorod, Russia. “We weren’t told where we were going. Only when we were already on Ukrainian territory and saw the signs and flags did we realize it. I asked the commander what we were doing here and the answer was that I shouldn’t ask unnecessary questions,” Dmitry recalls. When his tank came under fire near Pryluky in the Chernihiv region on February 27, he surrendered to the Ukrainians.
A security guard, a psychologist from the detention center and other prisoners were present when he and two other prisoners of war were interviewed. The DW journalists personally felt that the presence of the detention staff had no impact on the prisoners’ stories or their desire to speak. The guards did not listen to the conversation. They kept their distance and did not put any pressure on the DW interlocutors.
DW spoke privately to prisoner Oleg from Karelia in a separate room. He says he renewed his contract with the Russian armed forces in March. “I believed the news on TV that we were going to help, that there were nationalists here who would kill and torture their own people,” said the young man. But when he arrived in the Kharkiv region, he did not see a single nationalist. “When we got to the villages, people told us straight out, ‘Get out! You have no business here!’”
When he signed his contract, Oleg says he was promised training, but also not to be deployed on the front lines. But after just three days he was assigned to encircle the city of Kharkov. His unit tried to return to Russia, but the command forbade it. Then contact with the command was lost and his unit was captured by the Ukrainian army a little later.
All the prisoners DW was able to speak to assure them that they regret their involvement in the invasion of Ukraine and did not shoot at peaceful people in villages and towns. The Ukrainian investigators have not yet presented any evidence of any war crimes they may have committed. The prisoners are also said to have been checked with a lie detector.
The prison staff say that the Russian soldier Vadim S., who is also being held with them, allegedly only confessed to a lie detector test that he shot and killed a civilian in the Sumy region. On May 23, a Ukrainian court sentenced him to life imprisonment. It was the first verdict in a trial against a Russian prisoner of war in Ukraine.
In an interview with DW, none of the prisoners complained about poor prison conditions or inhumane treatment. “Every day we are asked if we need anything. If possible, we get it too. The food is balanced,” says Roman.
According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice, a prisoner of war needs around 3,000 hryvnia (about 95 euros) per month for food, clothing, hygiene items, water and electricity. In addition, there are expenses for medical equipment and medication as well as personnel costs.
Deputy Justice Minister Olena Wysozka told DW that such expenditures are justified because prison conditions for prisoners of war must comply with the Geneva Convention. Besides, one needs living and healthy Russian prisoners for an exchange against the Ukrainians captured by the Russians.
In a DW interview, the head of the UN human rights mission in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner, stated that the prison conditions for Russian prisoners of war were generally satisfactory. According to Bogner, UN observers also received information that Russian soldiers were allegedly mistreated and tortured after their capture.
According to Bogner, there are also indications that Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia and in the areas of Ukraine controlled by Russia are tortured immediately after their capture: “There is a lack of food and hygiene, and the way the guards are treated is rough.” The UN calls on both sides to treat prisoners of war humanely and to promptly and effectively investigate all allegations of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners of war.
There is no official information on how many Russian soldiers are being held in Ukraine. Their number is constantly changing due to regular exchanges. “Hope dies last,” says 20-year-old Dmitrij, who is also hoping for an exchange. After three months in captivity, all he wants to do is go back home. And he says he never wants to serve in the army again.
Adaptation from the Russian: Markian Ostapchuk
Author: Anna Fil
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The original of this post “We were deceived”: Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine” comes from Deutsche Welle.
