Ukrainian prisoners of war and defectors have been gathered into a Russian battalion to face Ukrainian forces — why? And how?
Russia has announced a battalion consisting of Ukrainian "volunteers." But veterans and former prisoners of war share very different accounts.
Ukrainian prisoners of war and defectors have been enlisted into a Russian battalion to fight against Ukrainian forces. Former Ukrainian senior lieutenant Pavlo Oliynyk, 25, was captured in the Donbas region in 2024 and subjected to electrocution, beatings, and psychological torture. He joined the Maksym Kryvonis battalion, named after a 17th-century Cossack commander, to escape and reach the front lines.
The battalion, reportedly consisting of 200 fighters by Russian media and fewer by footage, has gained public attention for its combat participation. Russian foreign policy expert Pavel Luzin suggests it's an imitation of the Russian Volunteer Corps and an attempt to distract from the existence of these units. Ukrainian intelligence services share this concern, but Ukrainian war veterans and human rights activists remain skeptical about the voluntary nature of the recruitment.
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